Internet Security Systems, Inc., often known simply as ISS or ISSX (after its former

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

ticker symbol), was a provider of

security Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercion). Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be persons and social groups, objects and institutions, ecosystems, or any other entity or ...

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

and managed security services. It provided software and services for computers, servers, networks, and remote locations that involve preemptive security against threats before they affect a business. Founded in 1994, the company was acquired by

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

in 2006.

History

In 1992, while attending the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public university, public research university and Institute of technology (United States), institute of technology in Atlanta, ...

, Christopher Klaus developed the first version of Internet Security Scanner. In 1994, Klaus founded Internet Security Systems (ISS) to further develop and market Internet Security Scanner, which later became Internet Scanner. Although the larger shareholder, Klaus took the role of chief technology officer (CTO), while Tom Noonan was recruited as

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

in 1995. In 1996 David Strohm from Greylock Ventures and Bob Davoli, from Sigma Partners, led the first round of venture capital investment in ISS. In 1997, Ted Schlein from Kleiner Perkins and ATT Ventures invested in the next round. The initial public offering of the company on

was on March 23, 1998. Further products in

security software Computer security software or cybersecurity software is any computer program designed to influence information security. This is often taken in the context of defending computer systems or data, yet can incorporate programs designed specifically ...

space followed, including Network Sensor and Server Sensor which were both developed in-house. In 1998, ISS acquired the UK company March Information Systems, and rebranded their Security Manager product as System Scanner. About the same time, ISS acquired the company DbSecure, founded by Eric Gonzales and Aaron C. Newman, to add database security to their products. The DbSecure product was rebranded as Database Scanner. Subsequently, ISS acquired Network ICE and integrated their BlackICE technology into the ISS product range. In 2004 Klaus stepped down as CTO, although he remained a significant shareholder and chief security advisor. His role as CTO was taken by Chris Rouland. On August 23, 2006,

announced its intention to acquire Internet Security Systems for $1.36 billion and its Japanese subsidiary, ISS KK, for additional $570M. Total acquisition transaction size was $1.93 billion. On October 16, 2006, the deal was approved by ISS

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of corporate stock refers to an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the ...

s. By 2011, IBM accumulated more than 10 security-related startups and these, including ISS, were integrated with the security intelligence software company Q1 Labs to form the Security Systems Division. The new unit was headed by Brendan Hannigan, who was Q1 Labs' previous CEO.

Products

IBM has since discontinued ISS' signature product, the Proventia multifunction security appliance. This occurred after a long decline in tech support and licensing renewal service associated with the product. Product families of ISS include: *BlackICE *Internet Scanner *Network Sensor *Proventia
RealSecure
*Secure Log Manager
Server SensorSite Protector
* System Scanner *Managed Security Services Supported products include: *Endpoint Secure Control *Enterprise Scanner *Internet Scanner *IBM Open Signatures *IBM Security Network Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) *Proventia Desktop *Proventia Management SiteProtector *Proventia Management SiteProtector Web Console *Proventia Network Mail Security *Proventia Network Multi-Function Security *Proventia Server Intrusion Prevention System for Linux *Proventia Server Intrusion Prevention System for Windows *Proventia Web Application Security *Proventia Web Filter *Virtual Server Protection for VMWare

Location

IBM Internet Security Systems is headquartered in Sandy Springs, near

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

(

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, United States). Until late 2003 the company had significant development activities in Mountain View (

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States),

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

(Germany),

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

( UK) and

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

(Australia), but all development has since been relocated to Atlanta. The company also maintains sales offices. There were many support centers.

External links

IBM Internet Security Systems corporate websitearchive of technical papers and utilities for RealSecure

References

BlackIce Defender
tiny, small, IDS / Firewall Giant
IBM Security App Uses Analytics To Target Internal Threats
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160915163612/http://www.cio-today.com/article/index.php?story_id=0020006F4L3Q , date=2016-09-15 2006 mergers and acquisitions Defunct software companies of the United States Former IBM subsidiaries IBM acquisitions