Symantec enters crowded online data backup market

SwapDrive acquisition provides another string to its consumer and SMB storage bow

Symantec will integrate online backup into consumer security and storage software suites

Symantec has acquired online backup company SwapDrive for an estimated $123m (£63m), say reports.

SwapDrive offers a secure online service to consumers and small businesses that want to upload and store information which can be retrieved at any time from any device.

Many companies already offer online backup services, including EMC (which acquired online backup provider Mozy last year), HP, IBM and Microsoft, as well as dedicated online backup providers such as Iron Mountain.

Symantec will integrate SwapDrive's service into its Norton consumer storage and security products, selling online storage space as part of broader subscription software packages.

SwapDrive offers specific chunks of single or multi-user storage capacity, ranging from 100MB to 10GB, costing from $7.50 (£3.85) to $280 (£144) per month to lease. Features include user authentication, Triple-DES data encryption, firewall protection and redundancy for data loss prevention.