Inside sources told reporters that Symantec is on the verge of closing a $1.3 billion deal with VeriSign in order to have access to their authentication services. Sources said the deal was very delicate and could fall apart but if the companies are to come to an agreement the deal will close over the next few days.

VeriSign which sells off divisions of their company on a regular basis to consumers spends all their resources on their core work which is maintaining internet domains. The company is said to be in control of over 10 million domains. The company is larger than Symantec which is considered the largest technology security provider in the world.

"The next step might be to sell the rest of the company," Katherine Egbert of Jefferies & Co said. "Why not go all the way? Is this a natural progression?"

The Wall Street Journal said Symantec was at VeriSign’s heels and the deal was very close to completion. Rumors about the deal spread even further after VeriSign’s CFO walked out on a conference with JPMorgan Chase. Representatives for Symantec and VeriSign declined to comment.

VeriSign manages “.com” and “.net” domains and has been selling parts of the company to ensure they have the right finances and the backing to continue working on their internet registry process. The authentication software which is used by many companies brought VeriSign 50% of their $1.03 billion sales with revenue of $410 million n the software alone.