SonicWall buys e-mail protection provider

Security vendor SonicWall has acquired MailFrontier in a $31 million deal that will add e-mail protection to its threat and content management business.

SonicWall, which sells appliances and subscription services to protect corporate networks, such as gateway antivirus scanning, said Wednesday that MailFrontier's e-mail security software and appliances will round out its product line.

"Our channel partners and their customers are adamant that they need a?solution that can be integrated into their broader secure network," Matthew Medeiros, SonicWall chief executive, said in a statement.

MailFrontier, based in Palo Alto, Calif., has technology designed to screen out spam, viruses and phishing attacks in e-mail traffic. The company currently has more than 1,700 customers, including OfficeMax and SAP.

The acquisition is the latest in the consolidating security market. Last month, security giant Symantec announced plans to acquire IMlogic, while Microsoft in July announced plans to acquire security messaging provider FrontBridge Technologies.