EMC Buys Silver Tail To Grow Its Web Security and Cyberattack Protection Efforts

Photo of Jon C. Ogg
By Jon C. Ogg Updated Published
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

courtesy of EMC
EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) is about to make sure that internet session intelligence and behavioral analysis becomes about as big as virtualization. That may seem like a hard claim to believe, but EMC acquired the then-privately-held VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) back in 2004 in a $625 million acquisition and it is now the leader in virtualization.  EMC just announced the acquisition of privately-held Silver Tail Systems.

Acquisitions of private companies generally do not get much attention. Still, this is EMC we are talking about and web intelligence and behavioral analysis is only going to grow as a business as the need is only growing for internet and web security. Silver Tail Systems is called “a leader in real-time web session intelligence and behavioral analysis.”

After the deal closes, Silver Tail Systems will operate within the RSA security division of EMC. It is said to extend RSA’s Identity Protection and Verification capabilities and is expected to add to other areas in the RSA enterprise security portfolio.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2012, subject to certain closing conditions.  The acquisition is not expected to have a material impact to EMC GAAP or non-GAAP EPS for the full 2012 fiscal year.

If you look at the Silver Tail vision on its website, it states, “It is our goal to protect as many Internet users as possible – by protecting the websites those users rely on. We know that the criminals have vast resources, deep expertise, and unlimited motivation. We are committed to giving our customers the tools they need to level the playing field in the fight against online criminals.”

A news search shows that in 2011 a Series B funding round of about $20 million was led by Andreessen Horowitz and by existing investors of Leapfrog Ventures, Seraph Group, and StartUp Capital Ventures. Silver Tail was also named to the VentureWire’s FASTech 50 in 2011.

EMC has a market cap of $50 billion and the latest close of $23.91 compares to a range of $21.25 to $30.00 over the last 52-weeks. VMware is still under the super-majority control of EMC even though it is a public company and its market cap is currently about $36 billion.

JON C. OGG

Photo of Jon C. Ogg
About the Author Jon C. Ogg →

Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. a673b.bigscoots-temp.com.

Featured Reads

Our top personal finance-related articles today. Your wallet will thank you later.

Continue Reading

Top Gaining Stocks

CBOE Vol: 1,568,143
PSKY Vol: 12,285,993
STX Vol: 7,378,346
ORCL Vol: 26,317,675
DDOG Vol: 6,247,779

Top Losing Stocks

LKQ
LKQ Vol: 4,367,433
CLX Vol: 13,260,523
SYK Vol: 4,519,455
MHK Vol: 1,859,865
AMGN Vol: 3,818,618