The security software specialist buys anti-spam company Deersoft, the first in a series of planned acquisitions by the company to help people thwart unsolicited e-mail.

Network Associates on Monday acquired anti-spam software provider Deersoft, the first in a series of acquisitions the company plans to make to help people thwart unsolicited e-mail.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based Deersoft sells software that allows individuals and businesses to filter unwanted e-mail, or spam. Once a message has been identified as spam from a list of known unsolicited bulk e-mailers, Deersoft software either blocks delivery of the e-mail or tracks it for further review.

Network Associates, the security software specialist, said it will incorporate Deersoft's filtering technology into security products for e-mail servers, Internet gateways and desktop products.

The first anti-spam product will be McAfee SpamKiller Enterprise, a desktop application for blocking spam that will ship in the second quarter this year. Network Associates will also update its security administration application, ePolicy Orchestrator, to manage spam and other antivirus software.

In the second half of 2003, Network Associates will integrate Deersoft filtering into its McAfee WebShield and GroupShield products for blocking spam from Internet gateways and e-mail servers.

"With Deersoft, we have acquired extensions to the leading open-source 'blacklist' application, and we will add applications that detect spammers even before they appear on blacklists, supplementing that with the ability for customers to filter internal content with very tight control," Art Matin, president of McAfee for Network Associates, said in a statement.