Verizon has acquired Cybertrust, creating what Verizon claims is the world's largest government and big business managed security operation. The move will see the telecoms giant subsume Cybertrust's slew of products and services, including identity management, managed security services, vulnerability and threat management, as well as security certification programs. The firm will also get its hands on ICSA Labs, which claims to certify 95 per cent of deployed security software.
Verizon's announcement is the latest in a series of telecom companies
buying security services providers to boost their offerings. MCI (now
Verizon-owned) bought Netsec in 2005 and BT Group bought Counterpane in
August 2006.
Industry analysts were cautious about the deal, pointing to potential
integration issues between the two businesses - Verizon already has
several managed security services businesses through the MCI
acquisition.
"To realize the security-related and economic benefits of the combined
MSS operations, Verizon Business will need to move to a unified service
delivery platform," a Gartner analysis said. "Buyers of security
services look for security expertise, and senior management looks for
business issue acumen. Telcos are usually not the first option for
either of these buyer segments, nor are telcos typically the first
choice of employer for experienced security consultants. Verizon is
likely to suffer significant brain drain."