Google Inc. has signed an agreement to acquire Internet security company Postini. Postini's procucts include on-demand communications security and compliance solutions serving more than 35,000 businesses and 10 million users worldwide.

Postini's services, which include message security (e-mail and instant messaging), web security, message archiving, encryption, and policy enforcement, to protect a company's email, instant messaging, and other web-based communications.

Google will acquire Postini for US$625 million in cash and the deal is expected to close by the end of the third quarter 2007.

"With this transaction, we're reinforcing our commitment to delivering compelling hosted applications to businesses of all sizes. With the addition of Postini, our apps are not just simple and appealing to users -- they can also streamline the complex information security mandates within these organizations," said Eric Schmidt, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Google.

Hosted services, like Google Apps and Postini solutions, provide organizations with communications tools without the expense and hassle of traditional on-premise solutions. Google Apps, which includes Gmail, Calendar, Talk, Docs & Spreadsheets, and Personal Start Page, has been adopted by more than 100,000 businesses already.

Google will continue to support Postini customers and invest in Postini products.