OpenDNS expertise complements Cisco's security vision

Jun 30, 2015 16:43 GMT  ·  By

As part of an agreement announced on Tuesday, OpenDNS is to become part of Cisco, receiving $635 / €570 million, payable in cash, assumed equity awards, and retention-based incentives.

OpenDNS is a privately held security company in San Francisco that offers phishing and content filtering options to the traditional DNS (domain name system).

Because of this, the delivery of its services is not limited by the nature of the device, time or location, and the only requirement for the customer is to have the equipment connected to the Internet.

Cisco improves protection before, during and after an attack

Cisco is a developer and vendor of networking equipment as well as cloud security solutions, and it would benefit from OpenDNS’ cloud platform, which is accessed by over 65 million users on a daily basis.

Commenting on the acquisition in a blog post today, Hilton Romanski, Cisco senior vice president and head of business development, said that it would enable his company to offer better visibility and threat protection for network entry points that are not monitored and potentially insecure.

By combining the security solutions from the two companies, customers will benefit from improved protection for all stages (before, during and after) of an attack occurring on their network.

OpenDNS team to expand Cisco's Security Business Group

“As more people, processes, data and things become connected, opportunities for security breaches and malicious threats grow exponentially when away from secure enterprise networks,” Romanski stated in a communication announcing Cisco’s plan to purchase OpenDNS.

“OpenDNS has a strong team with deep security expertise and key technology that complements Cisco's security vision. Together, we will help customers protect their extended network wherever the user is and regardless of the device,” he added.

The OpenDNS team will be part of the Cisco Security Business Group, led by Senior Vice President and General Manager David Goeckeler.

If all closing conditions are met, the acquisition is expected to complete in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2016.