Seattle-based cybersecurity firm WatchGuard Technologies has acquired CyGlass, a cybersecurity firm headquartered in Littleton, Massachusetts.
In an email to the Business Journal, WatchGuard CEO Prakash Panjwani said CyGlass has about 43 employees, including full-time staff and contractors. Although the research and development team from CyGlass is joining WatchGuard through the acquisition, announced Wednesday, not all of CyGlass' employees will join WatchGuard due to overlapping positions.
"The immediate focus of the combined company is on supporting current CyGlass customers and partners with existing CyGlass solutions and integrating the CyGlass technology," Panjwani said in the email.
WatchGuard now roughly 1,200 total employees. The companies are not disclosing the financial terms of the deal. WatchGuard had about 1,100 employees in May 2021. In 2020, WatchGuard acquired Panda Security, an endpoint security company headquartered in Spain.
WatchGuard was founded in 1996, according to its LinkedIn page. The company offers services like endpoint and network security, secure Wi-Fi and multi-factor authentication. In addition to North America, WatchGuard has offices in Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America and claims more than 250,000 customers.
CyGlass, meanwhile, offers services to help with remote workforces, ransomware defense and compliance. According to a news release, the company uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to protect clients. On its website, CyGlass is now called "CyGlass, a WatchGuard brand." CyGlass will keep its brand, according to the company.
In a 2021 interview with the Business Journal, Panjwani said the pandemic rapidly changed how IT managers need to manage security.
"Think about that remote worker," Panjwani said at the time. "It’s almost like you’re treating every user, even your own employee, almost as a threat factor. You don’t know where they’re coming from or what their home environment is and if it’s not protected. It put a lot of pressure on what I would say is moving security through the user."
