Security vulnerability-management rivals marry: Tripwire acquires nCircle

Network World - Tripwire today said it had acquired nCircle for an undisclosed price, a deal that will meld together two longtime rivals in the security and vulnerability-management industry.

Tripwire, which had been acquired by investment firm Thoma Bravo two years ago, said it expects to continue making acquisitions to grow as a security company.

Tripwire said the combination of the two security firms will result in a company that as of last year had $140 million in business, more than 500 employees and more than 7,000 customers in 96 countries.

Jim Johnson, CEO at Tripwire, said the strategy set by Thoma Bravo calls for still more expansion in the future. "This is step one of many acquisitions to come," Johnson said.

Though there are plans to phase out the nCircle name, the nCircle products will be maintained for the foreseeable future. nCircle has an agentless vulnerability-assessment and configuration management product and Tripwire's is agent-based, so "the two product lines fit in nicely," Johnson says.

Sometimes customers prefer one or the other approach, Johnson said, and over time there will be deeper integration of the nCircle Suite360 agentless product line into Tripwire products and services, which include Tripwire Enterprise, Log Center and Data Mart.

Tripwire, based in Portland, Ore., looks forward to being able to add offices via San Francisco-based nCircle.

Ellen Messmer is senior editor at Network World, an IDG publication and website, where she covers news and technology trends related to information security. Twitter: @MessmerE. Email: emessmer@nww.com.

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