Web security firm McAfee has sought to expand its outbound security capabilities with the acquisition of data loss prevention (DLP) vendor Reconnex.

The proposed £23 million cash deal will give McAfee technology which can proactively identify which information in an organisation should be kept confidential and who should have access to it.

The deal follows the purchase of DLP firm Onigma by McAfee last year, and comes after a flurry of recent acquisitions in the space by rivals Symantec and Trend Micro.

“The growing number of high-profile incidents in which customer records, confidential information and intellectual property were leaked, lost or stolen has created an explosive demand for [DLP] solutions,” said IDC analyst Brian Burke, in a statement. “This acquisition creates a great opportunity for McAfee to fulfill a critical need in this space.

IDC predicts the market for these types of solutions, which it has termed information protection and control (IPC) to grow by 33 per cent a year to $1.6 billion in 2011.