EMC To Acquire Security Software Provider Silver Tail Systems

EMC Corporation has announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held Silver Tail Systems, a player in real-time web session intelligence and behavioural analysis. Upon closing, Silver Tail will operate within the RSA security division and is expected to extend the capabilities of RSA’s Identity Protection and Verification (IPV) solutions, as well as other areas across RSA’s 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.

Silver Tail Systems’ web session intelligence is the response to the evolution in threats and fraud, using a Big Data-driven approach to gather and analyse mass quantities of information in real time and at scale to deepen visibility into web sessions and mobile traffic. The information is fed into Silver Tail Systems’ behaviour analysis engine to review at both user and population levels to detect anomalies, IT security threats, fraud, insider threats, business logic abuse and other malicious activity.

Within RSA, Silver Tail is expected to contribute to multiple areas across RSA’s enterprise security portfolio. Silver Tail’s products will add a disruptive fraud-fighting technology designed to install and begin providing value in a matter of days, lowering complexity and cost of ownership. In addition, it is expected Silver Tail’s core transaction and behavioural analysis technology will help further extend the security analytics capabilities across RSA’s enterprise security solutions portfolio.

Art Coviello, RSA Executive Chairman and Executive Vice President, EMC Corporation said, “The industry is well beyond the point of providing effective security using static, perimeter point tools that fail to keep up with dynamic cyber attackers. Customers need better intelligence, analytics, and the ability to respond in real time which is a capability that Silver Tail’s products do extraordinarily well to help foil web-based attacks. Silver Tail offers proven anti-fraud solutions that complement RSA’s portfolio of risk-based and adaptive products and services. Together RSA and Silver Tail can deliver compelling solutions that leverage session intelligence and Big Data analytics to help our customers gain better visibility and control risk.”

“Silver Tail pioneered an approach that uses web session intelligence to provide unmatched visibility and the behavioral analysis that detects these threats and protects web-based platforms around the world. Together with RSA, we have an incredible opportunity to extend these capabilities beyond what we do today to protect web-based platforms. Silver Tail’s session intelligence technology demonstrates the capacity to expand the awareness and intelligence of what is occurring on the network with context, helping to rapidly sift through data to identify unexpected behavior and apply controls against advanced threats and malicious attacks,” said Tim Eades, Chief Executive Officer, Silver Tail Systems.