Internet and network security are on converging paths, prompting vendor mergers and changes in the way IT departments approach data protection, according to Ben White, co-founder of managed security services provider MessageLabs, and chief executive of Star Technology Services.

In an exclusive interview with IT Week, White explained that the recent Cisco acquisition of internet gateway security specialist IronPort shows how network vendors are trying to buy in web reputation technology to create “self-defending networks”.

“There’s a huge amount of security and management at the internet level, and this cloud-based stuff needs to be administered alongside network security through one management console,” White said. “You could see Cisco buying a MessageLabs and putting the technology into its routers.”

White added that as desktop security becomes less important, traditional antivirus vendors are looking at other ways of generating interest in their products, such as Symantec’s push into consultancy services.

“If I were McAfee, Symantec or Sophos, I’d be terrified, because people see signature protection as old hat,” White added.

But in the face of this changing security environment, each individual area of the IT department must step up collaboration efforts, White explained.

“Enterprises need one policy, one console – they can’t have silos anymore because that becomes a weakness,” White said.

White also predicted huge growth in the market for managed authentication services, with one-time password generating tokens increasing in popularity. “A managed services firm could co-ordinate and integrate these,” he argued.