Sparta Inc. of Lake Forest is buying the consulting business of anti-virus software maker McAfee Inc.
Under the deal, Sparta is set to acquire contracts awarded to the McAfee unit, known as McAfee Research. The unit does computer and network security research for the Pentagon, intelligence agencies as well as Hewlett-Packard Co. and Boeing Co.
Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
Sparta is set to take on about 60 McAfee Research workers. Most are slated to move to Sparta’s facility in Columbia, Md.
McAfee Research does work with agencies and companies to prevent hacker attacks, among other computer consulting services.
The unit’s work recently went from being considered unclassified to classified by the government, which could be why McAfee is selling the unit.
Santa Clara-based McAfee is best known for anti-virus and other software for home and corporate computer users.
Sparta, which develops computer systems, electronics and other products for the military, has offices throughout the U.S. Customers include the Defense Department and NASA.
The employee-owned company’s products include a device for defusing landmines, enclosures for electronics and systems for collecting and analyzing data from satellites and other instruments.
