SAIC acquires Atlan
Large federal contractor acquires McLean, Virginia-based Atlan, a specialist in cybersecurity product testing and certification of FIPS 140-2 and 201 for product vendors
The Obama administration is planning to spend upward of $7 billion on cybersecurity (see 9 July 2009 HSNW), and large defense contractor are making sure they are in a position to bid on cybersecurity contracts by buying smaller cybersecurity specialists (see 16 June 2009 HSNW; and “Tech Giants Buying Tech Security Companies,” 18 May 2009 HSNW)). The latest is to do so is Science Applications International Corp.
The San Diego, California-based federal contractor with major operations in Northern Virginia has purchased McLean, Virginia-based Atlan Inc. for an undisclosed sum. Atlan, established in 2000 by Johnny Hsiung and Ed Morris, provides cybersecurity product testing and certification of Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 and 201 for product vendors. FIPS standards are issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Atlan completed about 40 percent of all FIPS validations in 2008, according to the company, including validations for companies such as Sun Microsystems, Nortel Networks and Microsoft.
“The addition of Atlan’s FIPS testing capabilities enhances SAIC’s overall cybersecurity capabilities as well as our portfolio of Common Criteria, FIPS, and SCAP testing services,” said Larry Cox, SAIC senior vice president and business unit general manager.
Cox leads the company’s Accredited Testing and Evaluation Laboratories, which are part of the company’s Intelligence and Information Solutions unit. Atlan’s employees will join the unit.
