Technology giant IBM announced it is acquiring Q1 Labs, a Waltham,
Mass.-based provider of security intelligence software. The move aims
to accelerate IBM’s efforts to help clients more intelligently secure
their enterprises by applying analytics to correlate information from
key security domains and creating security dashboards for their
organizations. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Following the close of the acquisition, Q1 Labs will join the newly
formed IBM Security Systems division. After the close, IBM intends the
new division to be led by Brendan Hannigan, CEO of Q1 Labs. IBM’s
Security Systems division integrates the company’s Tivoli, Rational and
Information Management security software, appliances, lab offerings and
services. Q1 Labs technology will also create a common security
platform for IBM’s software, hardware, services and research offerings.
“Since perimeter defense alone is no longer capable of thwarting all
threats, IBM is in a unique position to shift security thinking to an
integrated, predictive approach,” Hannigan said. “Q1 Labs’ security
analytics will add greater intelligence to IBM’s security portfolio and
continue to distinguish IBM from competitors.”
IBM plans to apply Q1 Labs’ analytics to drive greater security
intelligence capabilities across its security products and services
such as identity and access management, database security, application
security, enterprise risk management, intrusion prevention, endpoint
management and network security. The acquisition is expected to close
in the fourth quarter of 2011 and is subject to regulatory review and
the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
The IBM Security Systems division will target a $94 billion market
in security software and services, which has a nearly 12 percent
compound annual growth rate, according to IBM estimates. Q1 Labs
will join the more than 10 security acquisitions IBM has made in the
last decade and the more than 25 analytics-related purchases, including
the recently announced acquisition of security analytics software firm
i2.
Q1 Labs’ analytics and correlation capabilities are designed to help
detect and flag actions across an enterprise that deviate from
prescribed policies and typical behavior to help prevent breaches, such
as an employee accessing unauthorized information.
The company’s software collects and analyzes information from
hundreds of sources across an organization such as the network,
applications, user activity, mobile endpoints, and physical security
devices such as badge readers — including both cloud-based and
on-premise sources. Its security information and event management
(SIEM) software also helps IT staff and auditors manage the tracking of
security incidents.
