The physical and information security worlds continue their trend toward integration with the recent announcement of a strategic alliance between Pinkerton Consulting and Investigations Inc. and Computer Associates International.

Pinkerton is a 150-year-old company with a history in providing security personnel and in conducting investigations. CA is one of the world's largest software companies.

The idea is to enable companies to coordinate and make more consistent their physical and information security strategies, especially when a software system uncovers an incident that may require a professional investigation.

"A strong business case can be made for combining our services, to leverage the CA product line and intellectual property within their software lineup, and combine that with the services Pinkerton has traditionally offered," says Erik Laykin, senior investigator in the computer and IT area for Pinkerton.

Examples include computer forensics, penetration and vulnerability testing, and policy and procedure development and compliance, especially with local, state and federal policies and regulations.

The partnership is being rolled out with a few clients the companies declined to name for now.

Toby Weis, senior vice president of eTrust Security Solutions for CA, said, "I meet with many chief security officers and CIOs around the world. They rely on eTrust but there are certain problems they have that call for more services. For instance when they want to conduct an investigation, there is a set of procedures they need to follow in order to be able to introduce data into evidence."

Also, "We see that organizations want to look at security holistically. Companies are looking to better manage their security right now; they are being flooded with information from all their protection systems. It's a difficult environment to manage. We hope this alliance helps to bring it under control."

While its name may be primarily identified with security guards, Pinkerton has been investing in a computer forensic and IT response group for a number of years, Laykin said.

The partnership between the two firms began at CA World in 2002; each company said the interest in working together was mutual and the agreement is not exclusive. The companies do have many clients in common.