SafeNet, Inc. was an information security company based in Belcamp, Maryland, United States, which was acquired in August 2014 by the French security company Gemalto. Gemalto was, in turn, acquired by Thales Group in 2019. The former SafeNet's products include solutions for enterprise authentication, data encryption, and key management. SafeNet's software monetization products are sold under the Thales Sentinel brand.
SafeNet was notably one of the largest suppliers of encryption technology to the United States Government.[1]
On 8 August 2014, Gemalto announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the share capital of SafeNet from Vector Capital for US$890 million on a debt free/cash free basis.[2] A subsequent acquisition of Gemalto by French rival Thales Group was completed on 2 April 2019.[3]
1983: SafeNet, Inc is founded in 1983 in Timonium, MD as Industrial Resource Engineering by two former NSA engineers, Alan Hastings and Douglas Kozlay.
1986: Anthony A. Caputo becomes a silent investor in the company.
1987: Anthony Caputo takes the helm of the company as CEO and changes the name to Information Resource Engineering.
1988: Lawrence Livermore Labs becomes IRE's first major customer. The company moves its operations to White Marsh, MD.
1989: IRE goes public in an IPO initially trading on the OTC pink sheets.
1989: IRE rapidly becomes the leader in banking communications security with seven of the top ten U.S. banks as customers and encryption devices used by SWIFT (global interbank transfer system). An end-to-end encryption system was developed that secured data over an X.25 public network, providing the world's first "virtual private network." Early adopters included the Bank of Montreal and Citibank.
1994: IRE acquires Connective Strategies, Inc., a manufacturer of voice and data ISDN products founded by its CEO, Charles Brown.
October 1995: IRE acquires Swiss crypto manufacturer Gretag Data Systems for $4 million.
1996: MCI Communications launches the first commercial VPN service using SafeNet VPN technology developed by Charles Brown of SafeNet and Vinton Cerf of MCI. SafeNet is adopted by thirteen of the top fifteen U.S. banks within two years.
1997: IRE stock plunges 50% in one day on the announcement of the restructuring of the MCI contract.
2000: IRE is renamed SafeNet, Inc. after the VPN product line.
2001: Company co-founder Doug Kozlay leaves SafeNet to form Biometric Associates, a technology company focused on biometric-based authentication and identity solutions.
2002: SafeNet acquires a Dutch company Securealink. With the collapse of the tech "bubble," SafeNet, as a public company with a strong sales channel,[citation needed] was able to acquire a series of promising security companies at deep discounts.
February 2003: SafeNet acquires Cylink and Raqia Networks[5]
April 2009: SafeNet sells MediaSentry to ArtistDirect
December 2009: SafeNet acquires Assured Decisions, LLC[15]
December 2012: SafeNet sells its Government Solutions business unit to Raytheon[16]
August 2014: SafeNet announces it is to be acquired by Gemalto by the 4Q of 2014[17]
February 2015: SafeNet Assured Technologies is launched as a fully owned subsidiary of Gemalto to provide high-assurance data security products and technologies to the U.S. Government.[18]
April 2019: Thales Group closes the acquisition of Gemalto.[19] Thales Cloud Protection and Licensing were formed to serve the global community, and SafeNet Assured Technologies, the entity serving the U.S. Government, becomes Thales Trusted Cyber Technologies.
In 2009, Vector Capital acquires Aladdin Knowledge Systems, and placed it under SafeNet with the annotation of 'under common management'. In 2010, the two companies were officially merged.
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