CISCO is set to acquire SAAS security vendor ScanSafe for roughly $183 million. The move, Cisco says, will help add to the Web security capabilities the company acquired when it bought IronPort two years ago.

Cisco Systems announced plans to acquire software-as-a-service vendor ScanSafe to broaden its presence in the cloud and expand its Web security offerings.

The deal, made for approximately $183 million, is expected to close in the second quarter of Cisco’s fiscal year 2010, and comes only two weeks after security SAAS vendor Purewire was gobbled up by Barracuda Networks.

According to Cisco, ScanSafe's technology will be used to expand Cisco's Web security portfolio both on-premises and in the cloud, building on the capabilities the company added when it acquired IronPort in 2007. In addition to the deal, the company announced plans to integrate ScanSafe's service with its AnyConnect VPN Client to provide a secure mobility solution. Cisco also announced that ScanSafe's global network of carrier-grade data centers and multitenant architecture will be leveraged to provide new cloud security services.

"With the acquisition of ScanSafe, Cisco is executing on our vision to build a borderless network security architecture that combines network and cloud-based services for advanced security enforcement," said Tom Gillis, vice president and general manager of Cisco's Security Technology Business Unit, in a statement. "Cisco will provide customers the flexibility to choose the deployment model that best suits their organization and deliver anytime, anywhere protection against Web-based threats."  (Source: eWeek, 10/28/2009)