M86 Security acquires Finjan

Published 3 November 2009

Acquisition adds enterprise-class secure Web gateway and hybrid SaaS solutions to M86’s Web and e-mail products; this is M86’s second acquisition in the last six months – in March 2009 acquisition of behavioral malware detection company Avinti, Inc.

M86 Security, a provider of Web and messaging security products, announced the acquisition of Finjan, a provider of secure Web gateway solutions for the enterprise market. This acquisition adds Finjan’s line of enterprise-class secure Web gateway and SaaS-based solutions to M86 Security’s portfolio of e-mail and Web security solutions, strengthening the company’s malware detection technology.

Under the terms of the agreement, M86 acquires Finjan’s global operations, products, and technology, which merge into M86 Security effective immediately. The company will maintain a development center and operations in Netanya, Israel. M86 will also merge Finjan’s security labs, Malicious Code Research Center, into M86 Security Labs, forming a comprehensive e-mail and Web threat research organization. As part of the agreement, M86 Security acquires a license to Finjan’s patents.

M86 Security was formed by the November 2008 merger of Marshal and 8e6 Technologies. Finjan is the company’s second acquisition in the last six months, following the March 2009 acquisition of behavioral malware detection company Avinti, Inc. The acquisition grows M86 Security’s employee base to just more than 300 employees.

“We are very pleased to add Finjan’s technology, products, customers and employees to the M86 team,” said John Vigouroux, chief executive officer at M86 Security. “With M86`s complementary e-mail security and reporting products and worldwide distribution, we anticipate a broad opportunity for Finjan’s enterprise-class Web security solutions to existing and new customers.”

Vigouroux joined M86 in April 2009 from his position as president and CEO of Finjan. Recently, the company had also hired Werner Thalmeier as vice president of product management. Thalmeier previously held the same position at Finjan.

“With my own knowledge of Finjan’s business, coupled with Werner’s deep technical knowledge of the products, we’re confident about our aggressive plan to integrate its secure Web gateway into the M86 product line,” Vigouroux added.

The Finjan acquisition is well-timed for M86 as Web-based threats have increased dramatically to become the main point of attack. Many organizations are looking to implement malware protection in addition to existing Web filtering strategies.

According to Gartner, “The Web gateway represents the best location not only to filter inbound threats but also to intercept outbound malware communications, before vital information is lost. However, fewer than 20 percent of organizations have implemented malware detection in Web gateways. Implementing a secure Web gateway is the most effective and economical method to minimize malware infections.”

Finjan provides active real-time content inspection and code analysis technology focused on identifying malware delivered inbound through the Web channel. In addition, Finjan’s Anti-Crimeware and Anti-Malware protection protects against Web 2.0-based malware. This technology addresses one of the most important entry points for malware into the business network and provides effective protection of Web threats that are not recognized by traditional signature-based technologies.

“We are very excited to see Finjan become part of M86 Security,” said Gadi Maier, president and CEO of Finjan Software, Inc. “Finjan is well known for its advanced malware detection technology and leading secure Web gateway and hybrid SaaS solutions, Integrating it into M86’s broader Web and messaging product lines and utilizing its worldwide distribution is a win-win for M86 Security and Finjan.”

“The acquisition of Finjan supports our strategy to become the recognized leader in comprehensive inbound and outbound content security,” added Vigouroux. “With their real-time code analysis and our behavior-based malware detection, M86 now offers industry-leading threat protection technologies on both the Web and Email, and can provide an effective way to enable these technologies on appliances, software, or in the cloud.”