TECHNOLOGY : IBM Plans to Use Western Digital Corp. Anti-Virus Chip

Western Digital Corp. in Irvine said it has lined up its first major agreement for use of its anti-virus technology: Big Blue itself.

The computer components manufacturer said IBM has agreed to support its anti-virus technology, Immunizer Ready, which is built into computer hardware and prevents computers from being infected by “viruses”--software programs that destroy data--by detecting them before they do their damage.

Western Digital announced last month that it had crafted a computer chip that could protect the newest PCs from viruses. Previously, anti-virus protection was available only in the form of software packages.

Western Digital says Immunizer Ready offers broader protection against viruses, both known and unknown, because it watches for software code that acts like a virus.

IBM is the first PC manufacturer to agree to use the Western Digital chip in its designs. It plans to use the WD7855 systems logic controller chip in a line of PCs that it will manufacture in Austin.

Under the agreement, IBM could sell the PCs under its own brand name or make them for other computer makers who could sell the computers under their brand names.