ADT, ranked No. 1 on the SDM 100, closed the acquisition of the cyber security company DATASHIELD. Now operating under the brand ADT Cybersecurity, this service is uniquely positioned to provide enterprise and mid-market businesses with managed detection and response (MDR) services to combat advanced cyberthreats in real-time. DATASHIELD CEO Michael Malone will join the ADT team as senior vice president, ADT Cybersecurity, reporting directly to Timothy J. Whall, CEO, ADT. 

The security gap is widening as advanced threats continue to bypass the first line of defense, and many organizations are struggling to deploy, manage and use an effective combination of expertise and tools to detect advanced cyberthreats, ADT said. Mid-market and enterprise organizations are increasingly finding the need for 24/7 managed and monitored cyber solutions to help detect and respond to cyberattacks. It is estimated that by 2020, approximately 20 percent of mid-market and enterprise organizations will be using MDR services such as ADT Cybersecurity, up from less than 1 percent in 2016.

DATASHIELD, now ADT Cybersecurity, offers full packet capture and inspection beyond headers and metadata behind the firewall. ADT Commercial and National Account customers who look to add ADT Cybersecurity services will also have access to SHIELDVision, a unified platform for organizing, managing, & collecting cyber intelligence. SHIELDVision automates security analyst workflows to close the gap between cyberattack and breach detection time and remediation for customers.

Data breaches caused by cyberattacks on networks are plaguing businesses of all sizes. This year could set another record for the number and severity of data breaches after record years in 2015 and 2016.  The median time of compromise to discovery is 80 days with the average cost of data breach costing organizations $3.62 million, ADT reported.

“Our goal is to provide ADT customers with the most comprehensive security solution to protect their business, and in today’s world, this not only means their physical premise, but also their network,” said ADT’s Whall. “For more than 143 years, ADT has been monitoring physical properties, and DATASHIELD will now allow us to extend that same level of security monitoring to the digital world. Michael and his team will infuse cybersecurity DNA into our core business, allowing us to provide an offering that will distinguish our brand as the premiere resource for end-to-end security.”

Michael Malone, CEO, DATASHIELD, said, “The standard approach to cybersecurity was not designed to provide rapid response. This is a landmark opportunity to combine the brand and reach of ADT, with the technology and innovation of DATASHIELD to establish the new standard in the most comprehensive digital protection for mid-market and enterprise businesses.” 

Headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz., DATASHIELD was founded in 2009. In September, DATASHIELD opened its state-of-the-art Advanced Security Operations Center (ASOC), increasing customer capacity by 300 percent.

ADT Cybersecurity services are available for Commercial and National Account customers effective immediately. 

Momentum Partners acted as exclusive financial advisor to DATASHIELD and is serving as ADT’s strategic cybersecurity advisor.

For more information visit www.adt.com/cyber.