Cisco to acquire DDoS protection vendor

Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will pay $39 million in cash for all outstanding shares of Cupertino, Calif.-based Riverhead not already held by Cisco and will convert outstanding Riverhead options to Cisco options. The deal, subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the third quarter of Cisco's fiscal year 2004.

Riverhead's behavior-based technology compares traffic flows against profiles of normal traffic patterns and behavior to identify and block attacks.

Cisco said the acquisition boosts its "Self Defending Network" strategy to provide proactive, self-healing networks, and complements its Cisco Security Agent endpoint protection product.

When the deal closes, Riverhead will become part of Cisco's Internet Switching Business Unit.

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