Teaming up for Leak Prevention

Major vendors are partnering with start-ups in the emerging Information Leak Prevention (ILP) market to spice up their products and tap into compliance dollars. Symantec's new Mail Security 8300 gateway incorporates technology from Vontu to monitor e-mail for the presence of sensitive information. Websense announced plans to integrate technology from PortAuthority Technologies, which classifies and identifies confidential corporate data and prevents it from exiting the enterprise.

The partnerships make sense for both parties: established vendors can invoke "compliance," a magic word that conjures up IT dollars. Meanwhile, the startups create a new revenue stream, boost their profile, and get a toehold into new customer accounts. Customers also benefit because they can dip a toe into the ILP market without deploying a complete ILP architecture, and without having to bet that architecture on a start-up.