Proofpoint to Acquire VC-backed Emerging Threats
Acquirer
Proofpoint will integrate Emerging Threats’ advanced threat intelligence with its existing Targeted Attack Protection and Threat Response security solutions to deliver another significant step forward in advancing the state of the art for advanced threat detection and response, across the complete attack chain.
Emerging Threats uses an automated collection and analysis system, along with a team of expert threat researchers, to produce actionable threat intelligence for detecting, blocking and remediating advanced cyberattacks. The combined technology will provide customers with deeper insight into cyberthreats, enabling them to react faster to inbound cyberattacks, and to identify, block, and disable previously undetected malware already embedded in their organizations.
“Better cyberattack intelligence enables better cybersecurity,” said Gary Steele, CEO at Proofpoint. “Proofpoint’s market-leading advanced threat detection and response products for email and social media security and compliance will be further enhanced by pairing them with Emerging Threats’ deep research and intelligence capabilities. We believe that the combination of Proofpoint and Emerging Threats provides the most timely, actionable end-to-end attack intelligence and protection available in the industry.”
Emerging Threats’ systems gather millions of malware samples and other global threat indicators per day to develop intelligence about advanced cybercriminal malware distribution and command and control (C&C) infrastructure. This system collects, validates, filters and prioritizes malware samples into actionable intelligence; intelligence which provides immediate benefits to a customer’s security infrastructure.
The combination of Emerging Threats’ threat intelligence with Proofpoint’s existing big data platform and threat analytics systems will provide compounded benefits in both detection and response capabilities. The integrated offerings extend Proofpoint’s market-leading capabilities in detecting advanced malware propagated through email and social media messaging systems. The result is a unique, end-to-end view into the entire kill chain of cyberattacks and cyberattackers. This unmatched insight into the attack chain provides improved threat detection and faster, automated incident response and remediation for organizations worldwide.
“Emerging Threats has a proven track record of effectively detecting and responding to today’s advanced cyberattacks,” said Ken Gramley, Emerging Threats chief executive officer, who will become vice president of Emerging Threats for Proofpoint upon consummation of the acquisition. “Our suite of threat intelligence products delivers actionable, correlated threat intelligence necessary to security teams. We’re excited to integrate with Proofpoint’s solutions to bring our industry-leading advanced threat detection and remediation capabilities to an even larger market.”
Emerging Threats’ suite of threat intelligence products is delivered as a subscription-based cloud service. IQRisk Suite includes three products: ETPro Ruleset, IQRisk Rep List and IQRisk Query. ETPro Ruleset provides accurate and complete coverage for malware C&C communications for intrusion detection systems and intrusion protection systems. IQRisk Rep List delivers categorized and scored threat intelligence. In addition, IQRisk Query provides history and supporting observed activity via a web portal or API directly from a central datastore of threat intelligence. Emerging Threats also sponsors, maintains and releases the industry’s leading open source IDS/IPS ruleset, ETOpen Ruleset, used by more than 20,000 organizations worldwide. Proofpoint intends to continue to support and invest in these products and the open source community.
As part of the acquisition, Emerging Threats’ team of renowned threat researchers, software engineers and sales personnel will join Proofpoint’s team, continuing to operate from the Emerging Threats headquarters in Indianapolis. Proofpoint currently expects the transaction to have no material impact on revenue, billings, and non-GAAP profitability for the first quarter and full year 2015.