September 10, 2009, 9:21 PM — In the latest sign of data-loss prevention (DLP) market consolidation, Trustwave announced it has acquired Vericept for an undisclosed amount.
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Chicago-based Trustwave, which counts 600,000 customers overall for its data-security software and services, is active in compliance services and assessments associated with the Payment Card Industry's Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), the technical requirements that businesses accepting credit- and debit cards must follow for protection of cardholder data. It's in this area in particular where the Vericept DLP technology is expected to play a useful part, says Robert McCullen, Trustwave's chairman and CEO. "One primary use will be to help in compliance."
The buyout is the latest in a stream of such deals over the past couple of years. Among those deals: McAfee buying Reconnex about a year ago and CA acquiring Orchestria in January.
Some industry watchers say that customers increasingly are seeking DLP capabilities through their existing strategic security vendors. DLP functionality is also being extended beyond standalone products into existing software and hardware, such as switches.
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Vericept is said to have about 400 customers, and Trustwave will continue to market Vericept's standalone DLP products for endpoints and gateways. But Trustwave also envisions establishing DLP-based offerings under a software-as-a-services model, plus offering managed services in which Trustwave would remotely manage a Vericept DLP gateway at a customer's site. Dave Parkinson, CEO of Vericept, has been appointed general manager of security services at Trustwave.
Trustwave, which says it has 100,000 customers using its endpoint security agent, expects to incorporate DLP functions into that. The company anticipates more detailed announcements about these efforts in the coming months.
Earlier this year, Trustwave bought independent network access control vendor Mirage Networks and said it would add NAC to the list of services it provides.
