“The market is primed for a new approach to enterprise security that reduces risk, lowers cost, and increases leverage for SOC teams. Building on our success supporting Mobile Service Providers with a visibility solution, we see a similar opportunity to disrupt the security market with the addition of ICEBRG to the Gigamon Platform. This combination provides a compelling new way to enable Security Operations professionals to regain the upper-hand.”
– Paul Hooper, Chief Executive Officer, Gigamon
“The combination of the high-quality network data from the GigaSECURE® Security Delivery Platform and the ICEBRG cloud-based platform will power the next generation of security capabilities. Together, our expertise in networking and security will help SOC teams focus on defending against the most severe threats in their environments.”
– William Peteroy, Chief Executive Officer, ICEBRG
Transaction Overview
- On July 23rd, 2018, Gigamon, Inc. ("Gigamon") acquired ICEBRG, Inc. ("ICEBRG")
- ICEBRG is a Seattle-based security company founded in 2014 by security industry veterans William Peteroy and Josh Carlson, who both previously worked at the National Security Agency and Microsoft. The company provides a network security software platform designed for risk reduction using sensors deployed at customer locations that stream rich network traffic metadata into a cloud-based platform
- Security Operations Center (SOC) teams are empowered with a rich set of APIs, an advanced query language, enriched metadata and a set of automated detections that allow them to quickly identify and act with confidence to remediate only threats of the highest severity. Offered as a SaaS solution, SOC and Incident Response teams can rapidly deploy new security technologies as 'security applications' and validate them with a robust data set built over time
- ICEBRG had raised $12.5 million in total funding over two rounds, including a $10 million Series A in March 2016 led by Pelion Venture Partners with participation from Madrona Venture Group (who also led the 2014 seed round), Formation 8, and other institutional and individual investors
- At the time of acquisition, ICEBRG had grown from two founders to 50 employees and was deployed across seven continents, successfully routing attacks, discovering zero-day attacks, and serving multiple Fortune 500 customers
- Gigamon Inc. is the company leading the convergence of network and security operations to help organizations improve their security stance. Based in Santa Clara, California, Gigamon was previously publicly-traded (NYSE: GIMO) before being acquired by Elliott Management Corp. through Evergreen Coast Capital Partners in October 2017 for $1.6 billion. The company serves 83% of the Fortune 100 and 43% of the Fortune 1000
- The acquisition was Gigamon's first since inception and marks the start of a new M&A strategy for the company. Paul Hooper stated "There will be more acquisitions. The valuations in security are starting to get more realistic"
- Financial terms were not disclosed, though Reuters pegged ICEBRG's valuation at approximately $100 million. The ICEBRG brand was dissolved and fully integrated into Gigamon, which established a third R&D center in Seattle as a result of the transaction
Transaction Significance
- Represents Gigamon's first acquisition since inception and marks the start of a new M&A strategy, which includes moving into security
- The combination of network traffic visibility from Gigamon's platform and the next-generation approach that ICEBRG employs for the detection and triage of threats, will allow enterprises to reduce risk and keep pace with the rapidly evolving threat landscape
- "The acquisition of ICEBRG brings Gigamon the cloud-based data management capability essential for delivering advanced network security as a service. The Gigamon-ICEBRG combination offers security teams a better way to prioritize and respond to the most urgent threats, potentially changing how we view security in the SOC of the future." – Eric Ogden, Senior Research Analyst, 451 Research
- Organizations currently rely on a set of disparate security tools which produce siloed views of the same data. The duplication of functions such as data acquisition, analysis and alerts lead to inefficiencies in the security stack and higher operational costs. Security teams, already suffering from chronic resource constraints and threat fatigue, must complete significant correlation after an event to produce actionable output
- The combination addresses a common challenge that security leaders face: too much complexity in the security stack. The integration provides a common platform on which multiple security applications can connect and access data, making security easier to deploy and manage
Momentum Cyber's Role
- Momentum Cyber served as exclusive financial and strategic advisor to ICEBRG
If you’re navigating a critical inflection point in cybersecurity growth, M&A, or capital strategy, Momentum Cyber brings unmatched sector expertise and senior-level advisory to every engagement. Let us advise you today and help you maximize value with confidence in an increasingly complex cyber landscape.