Digital Guardian Acquires Armor5

Digital Guardian, the only security solution to protect data from insider and outsider threats with a single agent, has acquired Armor5, a 2014 Gartner Cool Vendor in Application and Endpoint Security.

Armor5 offers the only zero touch, 100% cloud-based or on-premise solution that enables access to a company’s network, virtualizes enterprise data and applications, and provisions secure and compliant access for every end user. The Armor5 Zero Touch approach requires no installs or configuration on the device or DMZ, operates without a performance deficit and leaves no data on mobile devices. Armor5 protects enterprise data resources when accessed from any device. It was founded in 2012 by former executives from Adobe, Motorola and Yahoo and was backed by Citrix Startup Accelerator, Trinity Ventures and Nexus Venture Partners.

With Armor5’s integration into the Digital Guardian Management Console, customers will be able to extend the data protection, visibility and control of the Digital Guardian agent to cloud applications. This will be managed via a single policy, increasing data protection coverage without adding complexity. This addresses a pressing market need as IT strives to keep up with changes in end-user computing and data sharing requirements.

The acquisition comes after the company re-launched at the Black Hat Conference, demonstrated significant sales momentum and made impressive additions to its senior team.

Executive Perspective
Ken Levine, president and chief executive officer, Digital Guardian
“Digital Guardian has first mover advantage when it comes to extending the benefits of traditional endpoint data loss prevention into the cloud. Enterprises are rapidly deploying cloud solutions and storing some of their most sensitive data there. While companies have been quick to adopt these technologies, the investment in security for these solutions is lacking. Our vision lets companies deploy consistent data protection policies from a single platform that persist across device and location. The Armor5 acquisition gets us closer to making this vision a reality.”

Michael Cristinziano, Digital Guardian board member and corporate vice president of strategic development, Citrix
“Cloud applications and mobile devices have ushered in a new form of productivity for businesses and they are here to stay. That puts significant pressure on IT security professionals to ensure they are used securely – and this is no easy task. This Digital Guardian, Armor5 union will be welcomed in the market as the combined solution can rise to the task of protecting data regardless of where it is located and/or which device is used to access it.”

Jon Oltsik, senior principal analyst, ESG
“Enterprise organizations want cloud flexibility and mobility but not at the expense of increased risk to sensitive data. Yes, you can manage data security through cloud-based services, but CISOs really want to extend their existing data security controls to the cloud rather than add an incremental layer of data security controls and operations overhead. With its acquisition of Armor5, Digital Guardian becomes a one-stop-shop for bridging internal IT and cloud-based data security controls and operations. This is the exact combination that enterprises are looking for.”

About Digital Guardian
Digital Guardian offers security’s most technologically advanced approach to data protection. Only Digital Guardian ends data theft by protecting sensitive data from skilled insiders and persistent outside attackers across traditional endpoints, mobile devices and cloud applications. For over 10 years we’ve enabled data-rich organizations to protect their most valuable assets at the endpoint. Our unique contextual awareness, transformative endpoint visibility, and flexible controls let you minimize the risk of data loss without slowing the pace of business.