Digital Guardian

Digital Guardian is an American data loss prevention software company that sells products to detect and prevent malicious actions by user and malware on endpoints. Its software is designed for both individual user and corporate networks, servers, databases, and the cloud.

Its customers include about 300 Global 2000 companies.

History

The company was founded in 2003 under the name Verdasys. Verdasys' flagship product was Digital Guardian, a data-centric security platform monitoring and encrypting all proprietary or sensitive information passing through a desktop, laptop, or enterprise server.

In 2008, Verdasys launched SiteTrust, an encryption software service for banks, brokerages, and other big companies that served customers over the Internet and were legally liable for losses from online fraud. Its client-side software package turned on whenever the user visited a website protected by the SiteTrust service and spawned a new instance of the user's web browser, shutting out malware and creating a secure space around all communications with the protected site.

An agreement between Verdasys and Fidelis Security Systems (now Fidelis Cybersecurity) in 2010 enabled customers to acquire and implement an integrated solution consisting of Fidelis XPS network appliances and Digital Guardian enterprise information protection in a single offering from Verdasys.

In early 2012, Verdasys expanded its data leak prevention portfolio to the cloud to help enterprises protect their data stored on their networks and reduce costs. When a large insurance company requested Verdasys to take over the job of monitoring and protecting the data, Verdasys introduced two new offerings: Managed Service for Information Protection (MSIP) and Information Protection as a Service (IPaaS), offering data protection as a managed service. The Digital Guardian platform completed EAL2+ evaluation under the Communications Security Establishment's Common Criteria Evaluation and Certification Scheme in December 2012.

Verdasys introduced a data connector in 2013 that contained malware threats detected by FireEye's platform. Before Verdasys' connector, the malware had to be handled manually.

Ken Levine, previously a McAfee executive, joined the company as CEO in 2014 and focused on simplifying its product. In March, Verdasys raised $12 million in venture funding, bringing the company's total capital raised to $69 million. The funding round was led by existing investors GE Pension Trust and Fairhaven Capital, with a new, individual investment from Brookline Venture Partners.

In March 2014, Identity Finder LLC partnered with Verdasys, bringing its Sensitive Data Manager, capable of automatically finding, classifying and securing sensitive information. In August of the same year, Verdasys changed its name to Digital Guardian and increased its staff to 150.

In October 2014, the company acquired Armor5, a provider of cloud control solutions focusing specifically on preventing employees who bring their own mobile device to work from copying and removing company files or data.

In May 2015, the company acquired Savant Protection, enabling IT organizations to deploy a unique agent for whitelisting the applications that can be used on any particular endpoint. When Blue Coat Systems launched the Alliance Ecosystem of Endpoint Detection and Response in July 2015, Digital Guardian was among the alliance-founding members. The ecosystem allows sharing of actionable intelligence gathered from endpoint security solutions. Also in July, IT consulting firm Atos and Digital Guardian partnered up to deliver Atos’ cloud-based data loss prevention service.

In October, the company bought Code Green Networks, based in Silicon Valley, which contributed its True DLP gear. The acquisition of Code Green Networks provided Digital Guardian with network, discovery, and cloud data loss prevention.

The company added 100 customers in 2015, bringing the total count to nearly 500, including General Electric and DuPont. At the end of the year, Digital Guardian announced $66 million in new funding, the firm's largest round since it was founded. Returning investors in the round were GE Pension Trust (advised by GE Asset Management), Fairhaven Capital Partners, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge, Special Situation Funds and Brookline Venture Partners. New investors were LLR Partners, Mass Mutual Ventures (the corporate venture capital arm of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company) and the venture unit of Siemens Financial Services. The company raised $135 million since its founding.

References

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Computer security software companies
Software companies established in 2003
Defunct software companies of the United States
Companies based in Middlesex County, Massachusetts