Kaseya Buys ID Agent To Strengthen Dark Web Monitoring Muscle

Kaseya has purchased cybersecurity startup ID Agent to add more end-user protection to its existing security management and infrastructure protection capabilities.

The New York-based IT service management vendor said its acquisition of Bowie, Md.-based ID Agent will make it possible for it to extend Dark Web monitoring, phishing simulation and security awareness training capabilities to its MSP and IT department customers.

"What [CEO] Kevin Lancaster and his team have built with ID Agent is truly outstanding, and its offerings are a natural fit for Kaseya's customers," Kaseya CEO Fred Voccola said in a statement.

[Related: Kaseya Wins $500 Million In Funding, Targets Additional Acquisitions]

ID Agent was founded in 2016 and currently employs 31 people, according to LinkedIn. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed, and Kaseya and ID Agent executives weren't immediately available for additional comment.

The company's Dark Web ID product combines human and sophisticated Dark Web intelligence to more effectively identify, analyze and proactively monitor for a company's compromised or stolen employee and customer data, according to the company. ID Agent BullPhish ID, meanwhile, educates employees with simulated phishing attacks and security awareness training campaigns.

"The marriage of ID Agent with Kaseya's existing security stack will give external and internal service providers greater opportunity to be leaders in cybersecurity protection by staying ahead of emerging threats with powerful, cost-effective services," ID Agent’s Lancaster said in a statement.

ID Agent will continue to be led by Lancaster, and will operate under its existing brand as an independent business unit of Kaseya. Earlier this year, the company expanded its partner success organization with the Goal Assist program, which provides aid around everything from sales meetings and training to supporting events and webinars.

The ID Agent deal is Kaseya's fifth acquisition in the past 18 months, and comes just eight months after the company purchased IT assessment and internal threat detection provider RapidFire Tools. Kaseya also recently bought data protection provider Unitrends in May 2018; SaaS application backup and recovery vendor Spanning Cloud Apps in October; and documentation platform IT Glue in December.

Just last week, Kaseya revealed that it had secured $500 million of financing from multiple funds at private equity giant TPG Capital on a valuation of $1.75 billion.

The ID Agent tools will complement Kaseya's existing protection capabilities around security management, patch management, and identity and access management. Kaseya's IT Complete platform is intended to help customers meet the challenge of implementing secure, adaptive and scalable cybersecurity tools under a single pane of glass, according to the company.