Symantec acquires Javelin and Appthority

Symantec announced the acquisition of Javelin Networks and Appthority. Financial terms were not disclosed

Javelin Networks offers advanced software technology to defend enterprises against Active Directory-based (AD) attacks, which recently have risen in frequency and severity. Multiple major advanced persistent threat (APT) campaigns have used AD credentials to move laterally in the network beginning with a single compromised endpoint. Javelin has developed software to protect AD and commonly-used domain resources, including domain controllers, domain identities, and domain credentials. Javelin Networks’ advanced technology can detect AD misconfigurations and backdoors and help prevent AD reconnaissance and credentials misuse by authorized devices and applications. The privately held company was founded in 2014 and has employees based in Israel and the U.S.

“In the cloud generation, identity management services, such as Active Directory, are a critical part of a user’s interaction with their organization’s applications and services. They are also a critical information repository that attackers regularly exploit,” said Javed Hasan, senior vice president of endpoint and data center products, Symantec. “The addition of Javelin Networks technology to our industry-leading endpoint security portfolio gives Symantec customers a unique advantage in one of the most vulnerable and critical areas of IT infrastructure. Most importantly, it can help expose exploitable backdoors in AD and stop attacks at the point of breach while preventing lateral movement.”

Appthority, which was founded in 2011 and is based in San Francisco, offers Mobile Application Security Analysis. The Appthority Mobile Threat Protection (MTP) solution provides threat detection and remediation across a broad range of device, app and data network risks. Last year, Symantec acquired Skycure, a leading Mobile Threat Defense (MTD) technology, that enabled the launch of Symantec Endpoint Protection Mobile (SEP Mobile). Appthority’s technology will be built into SEP Mobile, further enhancing Symantec’s ability to protect the broadest spectrum of modern endpoints and operating systems. Prior to the acquisition, Appthority was a Symantec Ventures portfolio company.

“Mobile apps are a critical threat vector that every company must address to protect their enterprise security,” said Adi Sharabani, SVP, Modern OS Security. “The Appthority technology extends SEP Mobile’s capabilities in limiting unwanted app behaviors, supporting regulatory compliance, and assessing vulnerabilities.”