Microsoft officials have revealed that the company is "in the final stages of due diligence" on several security acquisitions it plans to announce this summer.

No names have been put in the frame but the acquisition war-chest is believed to be $2 billion.

The long-term plan is to turn ISA Server into a fully-fledged unified threat management platform (UTM) platform to rival Nokia and Check Point, buying the security capabilities that the product currently lacks, an official said.

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Thomas W Shinder, M.D.