VeriSign Sells Managed Services Unit to SecureWorks

The Associated Press is reporting that VeriSign has divested its managed security services division to SecureWorks for an undisclosed price.

VeriSign’s new management has reportedly been looking to sell off some of its non-core assets to focus the business on domain registration and management services, and SSL certificate units. Managed security services was among those under consideration for divestiture. Earlier this month, VeriSign sold its communications services unit to TNS, for $226 million.

SecureWorks, based in Atlanta and founded in 1999, is an established player in the managed security services market, having survived the turbulent build-out of the last decade that saw may of its competitors fall by the wayside or get acquired by larger security and infrastructure companies.

The unit SecureWorks is buying from VeriSign is actually the product of one of those acquisitions. In 2004, VeriSign bought Massachusetts-based Guardent to augment its existing managed security services unit and compete against the likes of Symantec, which had bought RipTech a year earlier. Many of SecureWork’s contemporaries—NetSec, TruSecure, Counterpane and Ubizen, to name a few—have all been absorbed into larger companies.

For SecureWorks, the VeriSign managed services acquisition is the second major move it’s made toward growth. In 2006, the company bought LURHQ, a South Carolina-based provider of similar security services.

SecureWorks, which specializes in network monitoring and management for midsize and enterprise-class businesses, has deep connections in the credit union and financial services industries.