Seattle cybersecurity company WatchGuard snaps up threat analysis startup ActZero – GeekWire

Seattle cybersecurity company WatchGuard Technologies has acquired ActZero for an undisclosed sum, the parties announced this week.

WatchGuard has bought numerous companies over the years, including Cyglass, Percipient Networks, Datablink and Panda Security.

Founded in 1996, WatchGuard sells a wide range of security products and services to businesses. The company was itself acquired in 2006 by the investment firm Francisco Partners for $151 million.

ActZero is based in San Francisco and offers managed detection and response (MDR) security defense services.

“The acquisition of ActZero allows WatchGuard to add capacity, scalability and new technology that will enable our MDR service to expand to the full WatchGuard portfolio and third-party security products,” said WatchGuard CEO Prakash Panjwani, in a statement.

ActZero CEO Sameer Bhalotra launched the startup in 2019. He previously worked for a decade for the U.S. government and was an investor and board member for more than a dozen security startups, all of which were likewise acquired.

ActZero’s co-founder and vice president of partnerships, Hal Libby, will become general manager of security service at the merged company.

Bhalotra, who will serve as an advisor to WatchGuard, thanked ActZero employees, customers and partners in a LinkedIn post announcing the acquisition.

“Together we built something great,” he wrote, “and this is our chance to take it worldwide.”

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