VMware Carbon Black (formerly Bit9, Bit9 + Carbon Black, and Carbon Black) is a cybersecurity company based in Waltham, Massachusetts.[1] The company develops cloud-native endpoint security software that is designed to detect malicious behavior and to help prevent malicious files from attacking an organization.[2] The company leverages technology known as the Predictive Security Cloud (PSC), a big data and analytics cloud platform that analyzes customers’ unfiltered data for threats.[3]
 | |
| Formerly | Bit9 Bit9 + Carbon Black Carbon Black |
|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Endpoint security |
| Founded | 2002 (as Bit9) |
| Founders | Todd Brennan Allen Hillery John Hanratty |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Patrick Morley, CEO |
| Products | Security software |
Number of employees | 1000+ (2019) |
| Parent | VMware |
| Website | carbonblack |
The company has approximately 100 partners.[4] It has over 5,600 customers including approximately one-third of the Fortune 100.[5]
In October 2019, the company was acquired by VMware.[6][7][8]
History
editCarbon Black was founded as Bit9 in 2002 by Todd Brennan, Allen Hillery, and John Hanratty.[9][10] The company's first CEO was George Kassabgi.[11] In 2007, Patrick Morley, the former chief operating officer of Corel, took over as CEO.[12]
In 2013, the company's network was broken into by malicious actors who copied a private signing key for a certificate and used it to sign malware.[13]
In February 2014, Bit9 acquired start-up security firm Carbon Black.[14][15] At the time of the acquisition, the company also raised $38.25 million in Series E funding, bringing Bit9’s total venture capital raised to approximately $120 million.[16] The company acquired Objective Logistics in June 2015.[17] In August 2015, the company announced that it had acquired data analytics firm Visitrend and would open a technology development center in downtown Boston.[18] A month later, the company announced it would partner with SecureWorks, Ernst & Young, Kroll, Trustwave, and Rapid7 to provide managed security and incident response services.[19][20]
The company changed its name to Carbon Black on February 1, 2016, after being known as "Bit9 + Carbon Black" for approximately two years.[21]
In July 2016, Carbon Black announced it had acquired next-generation antivirus software provider Confer for an undisclosed sum. Prior to the deal, Confer had raised $25 million in venture funding and had more than 50 employees. According to The Wall Street Journal, the deal was valued at $100 million.[22]
On May 4, 2018, the company joined public markets, listing as "CBLK" on the Nasdaq exchange. As part of its initial public offering (IPO), Carbon Black raised approximately $152 million at a valuation of $1.25 billion.[23] Prior to its IPO, the firm had raised $190M from investors including Kleiner Perkins, Highland Capital, Sequoia, Accomplice, and Blackstone.[24]
In October 2019, the company was acquired by VMware for $2.1 billion.[6][7]
References
edit- ^ "Carbon Black, Inc.: Private Company Information - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
- ^ "Advanced prevention: Nothing new, just better". Network World, June 6, 2014. 6 June 2014. Archived from the original on June 8, 2014.
- ^ "Carbon Black stocks close 26 percent up on first day of public trading". Cyberscoop. May 4, 2018.
- ^ "SEC S-1 Filing". SEC, 2018.
- ^ "Carbon Black Announces Second Quarter 2019 Financial Results". Retrieved 2023-12-22.
- ^ a b "VMware Completes Acquisition of Carbon Black" (Press release). GlobeNewswire. October 8, 2019.
- ^ a b Lardinois, Frederic (August 22, 2019). "VMware acquires Carbon Black for $2.1B and Pivotal for $2.7 billion". TechCrunch.
- ^ Lardinois, Frederic (August 23, 2019). "VMware acquires Carbon Black for $2.1B and Pivotal for $2.7 billion". TechCrunch.
- ^ "Dropbox's tale speaks to a Bay State weakness". The Boston Globe. August 5, 2012.
- ^ "John Hanratty". Bloomberg L.P.
- ^ "George Kassabgi". Veracode, 2014. Archived from the original on 2015-10-09. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
- ^ "Bit9 Names New CEO". Dark Reading, December 3, 2007. 3 December 2007.
- ^ "Elite Chinese Cyberspy Group Behind Bit9 Hack". Dark Reading, September 18, 2013. 18 September 2013.
- ^ "What does the Bit9 and Carbon Black merger mean for businesses?". Tech Radar, March 12, 2014. 12 March 2014.
- ^ "Carbon Black S-1/A Filing, pg. 11". SEC.gov. May 2, 2018. Archived from the original on May 4, 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
- ^ "Bit9 raises $38M, merges with Carbon Black in cybersecurity consolidation". Boston Business Journal, February 13, 2014.
- ^ "Exclusive: Bit9 acqui-hires Objective Logistics". Retrieved 2015-06-23.
- ^ "Bit9 + Carbon Black Continues Investment in Innovation by Acquiring Security Data Analytics Firm and Establishing Development Center in Boston" (Press release). August 27, 2015. Retrieved August 24, 2019 – via carbonblack.com.
- ^ "Bit9 + Carbon Black Announces the Addition of EY's Managed SOC to the "Bit9 + Carbon Black Connect" Alliance Partner Program - Bit9 + Carbon Black". Archived from the original on 2015-10-10. Retrieved 2015-09-28.
- ^ "Cutting-Edge MSSPs Supercharge their Services with Bit9 + Carbon Black, the Market Leader in Next-Gen Endpoint Security" (Press release). 2 September 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-28.
- ^ "Bit9 + Carbon Black is Now Carbon Black - Carbon Black" (Press release). February 1, 2016. Retrieved February 2, 2016 – via carbonblack.com.
- ^ Zakrzewski, Cat (2016-07-19). "Carbon Black to Acquire Confer in $100 M Deal". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
- ^ "Carbon Black IPO Pops In Hot Cybersecurity Market". Investors Business Daily, May 4, 2018. 4 May 2018.
- ^ "Bit9 + Carbon Black Raises $54.5M - Carbon Black". Carbon Black. Retrieved 2016-02-02.