Optiv (cybersecurity company)

On November 5, 2014, security firms Accuvant and FishNet Security announced that they would join forces to create a new company.[5] The merger would create a roughly $1.5 billion information security giant with solutions covering nearly every aspect of cyberdefense.[6]

The merger was completed on February 2, 2015 when the company announced that the previously announced transaction had closed.[7] The new company was owned primarily by the Blackstone Group, a private equity firm that acquired a majority stake of Accuvant in March 2014.[8]

On April 21, 2015, Accuvant and FishNet Security announced plans to launch their new, combined corporate name and brand, and to begin conducting business as Optiv Security in summer 2015.[9] The new Optiv brand was officially launched at the Black Hat USA conference in August 2015.[10]

Optiv accelerated growth and expanded its identity and access management and third-party risk service offerings by acquiring Advancive, Adaptive Communications, and substantially all assets of Evantix during 2016.[11] In 2016 Optiv also made senior executive hires including a new CIO and Country General Manager for Canada.[12]

On February 1, 2017, Optiv announced that it was acquired by the global investment firm KKR.[13] In 2017 Optiv also expanded operations globally in Canada – including the acquisition of Conexsys, a Toronto-based security solutions provider.[14] Optiv has since continued its growth in Canada being named a “Major Player” in the Canadian Security Services 2018 Vendor Assessment from IDC MarketScape.[15]

Optiv appointed Dave DeWalt and General (Ret.) David Patraeus to its Board of Directors in September 2017.[16]

In mid-2018 Optiv moved its headquarters into the newly constructed 40-story 1144 Fifteenth Tower in downtown Denver and is considered a primary tenant to the building.

In July 2019 Optiv announced the opening of its Dallas Innovation and Fusion Center, an approximately 14,000 square-foot facility located in Frisco, Texas. This facility features an Advanced Fusion Center (AFC), an evolution of the security operations center (SOC) model. The AFC combines global cybersecurity experts with data analytics, robotics, machine learning, intelligence and automation capabilities.[17]

Optiv provides organizational cybersecurity services and solutions. Their offerings encompass business strategy and planning, monitoring and operations, technology integration and deployment and defenses and controls.

Optiv's services are structured across six domain verticals:

• Cyber Digital Transformation
• Identity and Access Management
• Risk Management
• Cyber Operations
• Threat Management
• Innovation and Integration

Global investment firm KKR & Co is the majority owner of Optiv Security, alongside an ownership team that includes The Blackstone Group among other minority investors.

KKR has offices in 20 cities across 15 different countries and is regarded as one of the top private equity firms in the world based on capital raised.[18] KKR has completed private equity transactions with approximately $610 billion of total enterprise value as of June 30, 2019.[19] Technology is noted as one of KKR's core industries in the Americas.[19]

The Blackstone Group is also regarded as one of the top private equity firms worldwide.[18] As of 2019, Blackstone's total assets under management totaled approximately $470 billion.[20]

• Cybersecurity Ventures included Optiv on its annual list of the world's hottest pure-play cybersecurity companies to watch in 2020.[21]
• In June 2019 Optiv announced that it was ranked as the top pure-play security solutions integrator on The Channel Company's 2019 SP500 for the third consecutive year. The SP500 annually ranks the top service providers, integrators and IT consultants by services revenue in North America.[22]
• Optiv earned Frost & Sullivan's 2018 Competitive Strategy Innovation and Leadership Award in the North American managed and professional security services market.[23]
• Recognized in the 2017 Inc. 5000 as one of North America's fastest-growing private companies.[24]

• Official website