Rapid7, a Boston, Mass.-based provider of security analytics software and services, announced on Monday that it has acquired application security testing company NT OBJECTives (NTO).
Privately held Irvine, Calif.-based NT OBJECTives’ application security testing solution analyzes web applications for security vulnerabilities and maximizes organizations’ ability to reduce IT security risk, Rapid7 said.
Best known for its Metasploit penetration testing products, which the company gained through its 2009 acquisition of the open source Metasploit Framework, Rapid7 continues to expand its security software and services, and with the acquisition of NTO, will now be able to offer customers the ability to assess risk in assets and applications in their environments.
While the acquisition just closed on April 30, Rapid7 is already offering NTO’s technology under the name Rapid7 AppSpider, which includes all the capabilities previously offered by NTO with dynamic application security testing and enterprise scanning program management, delivered as software or in the cloud.
“Web application security represents one of the greatest challenges facing the security industry and businesses of all sizes. With millions of custom web applications developed in the last two decades, organizations have significantly increased their attack surface,” said Dan Kuykendall, co-CEO and CTO at NTO. “We’ve spent the last 13 years creating an application testing technology capable of addressing this issue. By joining with Rapid7, we’ll be able to provide innovative solutions for Threat Exposure Management and help companies stay ahead of web-based attacks. We’re excited to join a team as passionate as we are about improving the practice of security for organizations globally.”
All NTO employees (less than 25) will join Rapid7, a company spokesperson told SecurityWeek.
The acquisition of NTO is the first since Rapid7 acquired Seattle-based Mobilisafe in Oct. 2012 to add mobile security offerings to its security product portfolio.
Rapid7 has raised over $93 million in funding to date, including a $50 million round November 2011, and $30 million in November 2014. In 2014, the company moved into a new 46,000 sq. foot headquarters in Boston’s Financial District.
Previously asked by SecurityWeek if an IPO was in sight, Corey Thomas, president and CEO of Rapid7, did not share specific plans by the company to go public, but said an IPO for a company like Rapid7 would be a “natural progression.”
“As a private company, we don’t comment on these types of strategic initiatives, though I can say that accessing the public capital markets is a natural progression for a company with our size and growth profile,” Thomas told SecurityWeek in late 2014.
