Cisco buys Web security company ScanSafe for $183M

October 27, 2009 | Paul Boutin | Comments | |

Cisco has smartly acquired scansafe logo ScanSafe, maker of software-as-a-service Internet security tools, which means it can now tighten the integration between its own networking gear and ScanSafe’s defenses against malware and other attacks.

The $183M price for the company, founded in 2004, fits nicely into our Revenge of the South Bay theme even though ScanSafe’s offices are a block from VentureBeat in downtown San Francisco. Companies that make boring-but-utilitarian IT back end hardware and software are being acquired for prices well above those that most social network startups will fetch. The uncool kids are making money again.

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About the Author, Paul Boutin

Paul (paul@venturebeat.com) covers Apple & the iPhone, social networks & social media, digital music & video, and any crazy Internet story. Paul wrote and edited for Valleywag from 2006-2008, after several years with Wired magazine and Slate. He writes regularly for The New York Times' technology section and sometimes for Wired and The Wall Street Journal. He studied computer science at MIT in the early 1980s, and worked as a software developer and network administrator for 15 years before becoming a professional writer. Follow him on Twitter at @paulboutin, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.

  • floisand
    This acquisition reflects the growing importance organizations are placing on web filtering. Companies seeking to improve staff productivity, lower risk of hostile environment lawsuits, and prevent malware entering from rogue web sites, are all driving up the demand. Schools needing to provide a safe online learning environment for kids, and comply with the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), are further boosting the sector. Controversial as web filtering may be, it's certainly a growth market.