Everfox, a Herndon government cybersecurity firm spun out of a multibillion-dollar private equity deal last year, has made its first acquisition since becoming an independent operation.
The company, previously known as Forcepoint Federal, announced Wednesday it bought London-based Garrison Technology Ltd., which specializes in making hardware that can help stave off cyberattacks. Terms were not disclosed.
Shaun Bierweiler, chief revenue officer at Everfox, told me the deal positions Everfox to offer its customers a more holistic cybersecurity approach because it can marry Garrison's hardware with its own software-based platform to thwart attacks.
He said speciality hardware for cybersecurity is generating interest in several industries including defense, Everfox's primary customer base, as well as from utility providers and others that maintain critical infrastructure components.
"This is a really strategic milestone for us," Bierweiler said. "If you've been following the news lately, the threats are not limited to governments, right? And we've seen that many of our largest enterprises, whether they operate in regulated industries or not, they're under constant attacks that have very extreme consequences."
Everfox was born in September 2023 when private equity giant TPG bought Forcepoint Federal for $2.45 billion, one of the largest private equity deals in Greater Washington last year. TPG rebranded the Forcepoint unit as Everfox and established its headquarters out of Forcepoint Federal's office at 12950 Worldgate Drive.
The Garrison deal adds 150 employees to Everfox's rolls, giving it about 1,000 employees globally. It also has offices in Champaign, Illinois; Richardson, Texas; and Salt Lake City, Utah. Bierweiler declined to share the company's revenue figures.
Bierweiler said he couldn't comment on a data breach that has potentially compromised the Social Security numbers of every American, first reported by the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday, and whether Everfox's technology could've prevented such a case because the details behind the breach continue to be identified. But he noted that high-profile attacks like these are becoming more prevalent, and protecting a company or organization's assets from hardware and software perspectives is paramount in helping to prevent these attacks from being successful.
"I think that the company is going to be an exciting one to follow," Bierweiler said. "We expect it to continue to have positive impacts on the community, both from an employment perspective as well as a mission one."
