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How to clean up in IT security: A basic guide

Patrick Gray ZDNet Australia

Published: 27 Sep 2004 15:25 BST

If you're lucky enough to be the majority shareholder in a midsize security services company, there's a good chance you'll be sunning yourself on the deck of your new yacht this time next year, scoffing caviar from a diamond studded solid gold plate.

The Foundstone guys are probably doing that right now. And let's face it, when you're company gets picked up for a lazy $86m by McAfee, it's time to hit the water. The team at @Stake, which was formed by the hacking crew l0pht, also looks set to sail after last week's announcement that Symantec would buy the midsize consulting group for an undisclosed figure thought to be around $50m.

By the end of next year, maybe CERT or the SANS Institute could organise a regatta as the current appetite for infosec companies seems insatiable.

Announced this week -- but reported by ZDNet UK sister site ZDNet Australia last week -- was the merger of beTRUSTed, Ubizen and TruSecure. Unlike @Stake and Foundstone, which were "grass roots" security companies, TruSecure is the Big Mac of the IT security world: functional, soulless and partially owned by Gartner.

Granted, it started off as an all-about-the-technology organisation, but by the time the beTRUSTed merger rolled around it was all about the money. It doesn't mean TruSecure didn't offer a good service -- it's definitely a capable organisation -- but its marketing driven approach, versus a security-as-a-science driven approach, sets it apart from the likes of @Stake.

It's no surprise, then, that it was beTRUSTed, a security company owned by a capital fund belonging to Bank One, that merged with TruSecure. Serious money involved, folks. Billions. beTRUSTed has deep pockets, gobbling up companies like 90East and SecureNet in Australia, and Ubizen in Europe.

beTRUSTed has an end-game, and the grapevine says it's to be acquired. From the beTRUSTed point of view it's all about getting a return on Bank One's money, and for TruSecure it's about earning money for their investors: J.P. Morgan Partners, Gartner Group, North Atlantic Capital and others. You know, the little guys.

There is undoubtedly an exit strategy for all those involved in the merged TruSecure/beTRUSTed/Ubizen security behemoth. Investors like those rarely lose.