ManTech Completes Acquisition of HBGary

ManTech International announced today that it has completed the acquisition of security firm HBGary, Inc.

The HBGary brand will remain, a ManTech spokesperson told SecurityWeek, and will become part of a new commercial business unit within ManTech’s Mission, Cyber, & Intelligence Solutions (MCIS) group, led by Senior Vice President of Cyber Strategy, Ken Silva.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, though ManTech said that it used available cash to finance the acquisition.

In February 2011, former HBGary CEO Aaron Barr stepped down from his position at HBGary Federal following an attack by Anonymous that exposed thousands of sensitive company emails. The attack came as a result of Barr’s claims that he had identified and planned to out several members of the hacking collective. Subsequently, HBGary pulled out of its planned participation in the 2011 RSA Conference, not only pulling out of scheduled talks, but also leaving an empty booth on the tradeshow floor. The company said the move to pull out of RSA was to protect employees after several threats were received.

ManTech also found itself a victim of attacks coming from Anonymous when certain systems were breached back in July 2011. In this case, the incident was related to a contract the IT services firm had with the FBI, in an attack that was in protest of FBI arrests of alleged members of Anonymous.

Regardless of the bumps in the road, ManTech and HBGary see the combination as a win-win situation. “The combination of ManTech and HBGary will create a broader cyber security solution capability for both our commercial and government customers,” said L. William Varner, president and chief operating officer of ManTech’s Mission, Cyber, and Intelligence Solutions group. “I am excited to welcome HBGary to my organization and look forward to expanding our opportunities in protecting cyberspace and developing new capabilities.”