Novell buys security monitoring software firm for $72 million

Novell Wednesday said it has bought e-Security, a maker of security information management and compliance monitoring software, in a deal worth $72 million.

Waltham, Mass.-based Novell, best known for its SuSE Linux operating system and related products, has also long sold security and identity management software such as Novell Identity Manager, eDirectory and SecureLogin.

Novell CEO Jack Messman said e-Security’s flagship Sentinel 5 product will provide a single, real-time, cross-enterprise view of hacker attacks and other security violations.

Novell will start selling Sentinel 5 in May, with new versions of it — and Novell’s software — available this summer.

Messman said that acquiring e-Security will add $20 million in revenue over the next 12 months, and he noted that the deal with Vienna, Va.-based e-Security had been in the works “for some time. We just happened to get it done today.”

He declined to comment on whether Novell plans to buy more companies and in what areas.