Juniper Buys Web App Security Vendor Mykonos

Juniper Networks, the second largest network equipment maker, has acquired Mykonos for $80 million in cash, adding Internet application security to Juniper's product portfolio.

San Francisco-based Mykonos makes what it calls "intrusion deception systems," which set up traps to steer hackers from Web applications to dead ends where there is no corporate data. The technology also records hacker behavior in an attempt to create a profile that can be used to identify and block the attacker during subsequent attempts.

Internet applications are a favorite target, because they typically contain vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit to penetrate corporate networks. Sometimes cyber-criminals find flaws not yet reported by vendors, or take advantage of known vulnerabilities that users have yet to patch with software updates from vendors.

In buying Mykonos, Juniper adds Internet application security to its existing systems for corporate networks. The company's firewalls, gateways and intrusion prevention appliances are designed to monitor Web traffic and stop malware before it enters a network. "With this acquisition, we extend our security portfolio," Nawaf Bitar, senior vice president and general manager for Juniper's Security Business Unit, said Wednesday in the company's blog.

Juniper plans to hire Mykonos' 14 employees and to continue operating the company's offices in San Francisco, New York City, and Rochester, N.Y.

Juniper reported last month a 6 percent drop in revenue in its fiscal fourth quarter, due to weaker-than-expected sales to service providers. The company warned that the current quarter would remain weak. Long term, Juniper is banking on the mobile and cloud computing markets to drive sales of networking equipment.