McAfee Inc. on Thursday said it has acquired Wireless Security Corp., a move that''s expected to boost McAfee''s products for protecting mobile computers accessing the Internet over Wi-Fi networks.

Under the agreement, McAfee has acquired all outstanding stock of the privately held Redwood City, Calif., company. Further financial details were not disclosed.

McAfee is apparently looking to plant a stake in the emerging market for securing notebooks used to connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi-based access points. These so called "hotspots" are sprouting up in public places, such as airports, cafes, hotels and other businesses.

The adoption of wireless access points, private and public, is expected to increase at a 36 percent CAGR over the next four years, according to International Data Corp. McAfee claims that in its testing of 60,000 wireless networks requiring a person to log in, nearly 48 percent were without security.

While Wireless Security also has network-related technology for authentication and data encryption, "the most interesting part (of the acquisition) is the client components," Peter Firstbrook, security analyst for Meta Group said.

"McAfee is making a move in the market to secure Wi-Fi clients," he said, adding that it''s going to be a few years before there''s unbreakable data encryption on public networks.

Wireless Security gives McAfee technology that it could integrate with its personal firewall product to secure notebooks, Firstbrook said.

"You''d be much better protected when using a public hotspot with a McAfee firewall," he said.

Today, it''s relatively easy for hackers working in public places to impersonate an access points, so that when someone "logs in" they can be monitored, experts say. The hacker can then steal personal data, if, for example, the person was to visit an online banking site.

"The world we live in has become increasingly wireless, yet most users do not have the proper security enabled and additional protection installed to secure their wireless networks," George Samenuk, chairman and chief executive of Santa Clara, Calif.-based, McAfee, said in a statement. "This acquisition builds on our existing security technology and enables us to further protect the growing wireless environment."

McAfee plans to integrate Wireless Security technology in its small business software Managed VirusScan, as well as other products. A consumer product launch is scheduled for the fall.