Finjan

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Finjan was a company which provided enterprise web security solutions, including real-time and behavior-based malware prevention, before being acquired by M86 Security in 2009.[1] Finjan continues to hold patents for various Web security technologies.[2][3] Prior to this acquisition, the company was headquartered in San Jose, California[4]

History

Finjan was founded in 1997 by Shlomo Touboul, a serial entrepreneur who founded his first company, Shani Computers, in 1985 and sold it to Intel in 1994. He then worked for Intel for a while, before starting Finjan.[5] In 1998 Touboul decided to bring in an experienced seasoned CEO, who would be able to develop and grow the company more quickly, he then left to start his own venture capital fund.[6]

In 2001, the company ran into financial difficulties[citation needed] and Touboul was asked by the board of directors to rejoin the company as CEO. Touboul realigned the company's strategy, moving away from developing only software solutions to combined hardware and software security appliances; additionally, the company moved to a channel sales model.[5] In December 2002 Finjan acquired [7] the assets of Alchemedia, a software developer with a DRM product called Clever Content, and several DRM patents; Alchemedia also had ties to Israel, as its founder Daniel Schreiber was Israeli, though the company was technically headquartered in the Dallas area. In 2005, following disagreements with the board[citation needed], Touboul left again and started a new company Yoggie Security Systems.[6]

In October 2007 Eric Benhamou, former CEO and chairman of 3COM, was appointed as chairman of Finjan. He also invested in the company through his venture capital fund - Benhamou Global Ventures.[8]

In November 2009 the company was sold to M86 Security, a global computer security firm based in Orange, California with international headquarters in London and offices worldwide.[9]

Finjan appliances are now sold as M86 Secure Web Gateway appliances.

Investors

Finjan was privately owned and its major shareholders included Cisco,[10] Microsoft, Bessemer Venture Partners, Benchmark Capital, HarbourVest Partners and Israel Seed Partners. In November 2008, the company secured an additional investment of $22M, which brought the total capital invested in Finjan since its founding to $67 million.[11]

Intellectual property and technology

Finjan invented the concept of proactive content security with behavior-based content analysis technology. This and other selected technology patents were licensed to Microsoft in July 2005. In April 2009, Finjan's intellectual property portfolio included granted and pending patents in the areas of behavior-based security and digital rights management.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "M86 Security Acquires Finjan". Reuters. 2009-11-03. 
  2. ↑ http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/McAfee-Loses-Finjan-Patent-Infringement-Appeal-Owes-Damages-480263/
  3. ↑ http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10389066-245.html
  4. ↑ http://www.linkedin.com/companies/finjan
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Griml, Guy (September 28, 2006), "Yoggie will change security, just like the iPod changed music", Haaretz, retrieved 2010-04-24 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Feldman, Batya (12-07-2005), "Finjan board fires CEO Shlomo Touboul - Former HP Israel deputy CEO Asher Polani will replace Touboul", Globes, retrieved 2010-04-24 
  7. ↑ "Alchemedia, Inc.: Private Company Information - BusinessWeek", Bloomberg Businessweek 
  8. ↑ "Finjan names new CEO, chairman", San Jose Business Journal, October 16, 2007, retrieved 2010-04-24 
  9. ↑ M86 Security Acquires Finjan Reuters
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 http://www.ivc-online.com/ivcWeeklyItem.asp?articleID=4136
  11. ↑ http://www.masshightech.com/stories/2008/11/17/daily34-HarbourVest-leads-22M-round-for-secure-web-firm.html

External links

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