Enterprise IT security consultants TruSecure and BeTrusted have
merged to form a standalone managed services firm called CyberTrust.
The deal creates a 1,000-employee firm to go head-to-head with the
likes of Symantec , VeriSign
and
McAfee in the burgeoning market for Managed Security
Services (MSS).
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Brett Jackson, who joins CyberTrust as chief operating officer, told
internetnews.com the merger was necessary to blend security
products from BeTrusted with TruSecure’s expertise in the consulting
business.
“We wanted to create a larger company so that high-end customers
would feel comfortable doing business with us,” Jackson said. “We now have the largest
privately held security firm with the financial power and resources to
support large customers around the world.”
He said the merged company would rake in revenues in excess of $160
million from about 4,000 enterprise customers worldwide.
BeTrusted is known in the market for digital certificates
secured with public key infrastructure
was previously owned by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
The deal comes as more and more organizations are turning to Managed
Security Service Providers (MSSPs) for a range of security services to
reduce costs and have access to full-time skilled security staff.
MSSPs offer network boundary protection, including managed services for firewalls, intrusion
detection systems (IDS) and virtual private networks (VPNs).
MSSPs also include security monitoring, incident management,
vulnerability assessment, penetration testing and data archiving/restoration.
Financial services powerhouse Merrill Lynch, for example, has contracted
VeriSign to manage hundreds of its network security devices
worldwide.
Research firm Gartner projects that by 2005, 60 percent of
enterprises will outsource the monitoring of at least one network
boundary security technology. IDC has projected the vulnerability
assessment and risk management market to reach $1.6 billion by 2008.
The CyberTrust merger also comes at a time when rivals McAfee
(formerly Network Associates) and Symantec have turned to acquisitions
to strengthen their MSS offerings. McAfee’s moves
include an $86 million cash deal for Foundstone; a $120 million deal to
buy Entercept Security Technologies and a $100 million cash deal for
IntruVert Networks.
Symantec has also been on an acquisition
binge, spending millions of dollars to buy Riptech, Recourse
Technologies, SecurityFocus, Brightmail, TurnTide and, most recently, @Stake.
