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Top Ten Security Stories of 2004: Page 4 of 12

Is Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) on a mission to buy up every security startup in the U.S.? The networking giant made its intentions clear back in March, snapping up Riverhead Networks Inc. for $39 million, just over a week after nabbing Twingo Systems Inc. (see Cisco: It Takes Two to Twingo).

Since then, the networking vendor has been throwing its cash around like a mafia boss at his daughter’s wedding. Other startups that have joined the family include NetSolve Inc., Jahi Networks, and, most recently, Perfigo Inc.

So what's next? Industry observers say we are likely to see more of the same, as Cisco continues to plug its technology gaps and bolsters its Self-Defending Network initiative (see When Will Cisco Go Soft? and M&A Mojo).

7. Love Don’t Live Here Anymore – SCUR Spurns CyberGuard Suitor

Not all of this year’s M&A activity has seen vendors wander off hand-in-hand into the sunset. During the summer, security specialist CyberGuard Corp. (Nasdaq: CGFW) made an unsuccessful attempt to woo Secure Computing Corp. (Nasdaq: SCUR).