NGFWs such as those offered by Check Point, Dell SonicWALL, Juniper, Palo Alto Networks and others are extremely high-performance, turnkey appliances intended to stop threats before they reach a computer network and long before the anti-virus software on the individual computer even gets triggered.

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It has sued dozens of companies, claiming to have patented the very idea of selling computer software and other electronic goods over a computer network.

ECONOMIST: It was my idea

While McAfee's software may keep viruses from being passed between a handheld computer and corporate network, it doesn't prevent viruses from being delivered wirelessly to the PDA in the first place.

CNN: McAfee aims to shield networks from PDA viruses

It's a clear vote for the "cloud, " the idea that software and data should reside on a network rather than tucked into the hard drive of a computer.

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