The world's biggest chip maker, Intel, have agreed to buy computer security firm, McAfee for a fee of £5bn.

Under the terms of the deal, Intel have said it will pay $48 (31p) per share for McAfee. That is almost 60% higher than its closing share price on Wednesday.

A statement issued by Intel read the purchase reflected that security is now a fundamental component of online computing.

It added that today's security approach has not fully addressed the billions of new internet-ready devices, such as mobile phones, TVs and cash machines.