Five Reasons Intel Should Spin Off McAfee

In August of 2010 Intel announced one of the most ill-advised acquisitions in IT security industry history. Intel went on to pay $7.68 billion for McAfee. At the time I was one of many who was critical of the acquisition(Intel Should Not Consummate McAfee Deal.) While Wall Street was enamored of the deal because, wow! Cyber!, there was never a fit. A company that dominates the silicon chip industry has no strategic reason to get into anti-virus, IPS, and firewalls. Here are five good reasons for Intel to reverse the blunder of 2010.