The Google booth is seen at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Google has jumped into the anti-malware market on Tuesday, snatching up browser-based security software maker GreenBorder Technologies , which creates secure connections to protect e-mail and Web users from malicious or unwanted computer code.

The technology creates a secure zone, called a sandbox, for online interaction. "Any type of activity and interaction, while you are on the Internet, will be directed to the protected environment," according to GreenBorder's site.

It creates a green border around the edge of each Web page a user visits to assure the users that they are protected from viruses and other malicious code -- hence the name.

Gartner analyst Neil MacDonald has said GreenBorder's "virtualization" technology competes with software offerings from Microsoft Corp. and EMC Corp.'s VMware, as well as various rival startups.

Unlike virtualization software from rivals requiring multiple Windows licenses for each corporate user, GreenBorder insulates the Microsoft Windows system from the underlying computer hardware and only requires a single license for Windows, MacDonald said.

"This is pretty straightforward, it's primarily a talent acquisition for us; they have a small team of engineers that we were really impressed with," said Aaron Zamost, a corporate communications representative with Google. "The idea is that these guys have great expertise in the security domain that can provide obvious benefits to Google, its users, and its advertisers."

Source:Xinhua