IBM acquisitions look to improve security services, software

IBM Corp. announced it bought cloud security company Lighthouse Security Group L.L.C., part of a broader push to develop far-reach identity security software and services.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The announcement of the acquisition came last week, and IBM said Rhode Island-based Lighthouse”™s Gateway platform protects identity and data in an increasingly complex IT environment.

“Business models are rapidly evolving as employees conduct more of their work offsite,” Kris Lovejoy, IBM”™s general manager of security services, said. “Protecting this data and who has access to it has become a challenge costing our clients time and money.”

The Lighthouse deal follows IBM’s acquisition in July of CrossIdeas, a security software company. Big Blue said in its announcement that it had made a dozen acquisitions in security in the last 10 years and currently employs more than 6,000 security researchers and developers. IBM is headquartered in Armonk.