McAfee has announced a definitive agreement to acquire the privately-held ScanAlert, creators of the HACKER SAFE Web site security certification service, for approximately $51 million if certain performance targets are met.

According to Dave DeWalt, chief executive officer and president of McAfee, "Through this acquisition, we will enhance McAfee's triple play protection-securing consumers on the PC, Web and mobile platforms-by integrating ScanAlert's e-commerce security certification service into our SiteAdvisor Web rating system. This will create the industry's only service that helps consumers stay safe as they search, surf, and now shop."

"ScanAlert pioneered vulnerability assessment and certification for e-commerce sites to help eliminate one of the greatest risks to consumers' financial information. By becoming part of McAfee, we believe ScanAlert can extend Web certification to the next level, greatly benefiting consumers and the businesses who serve them," said Ken Leonard, chief executive officer of ScanAlert.