SiteLock becomes part of ABRY’s growing IT, telecom arsenal

SiteLock, a cloud-based security provider for websites, has been acquired by private equity firm ABRY Partners in a deal that will allow the security company to accelerate its growth strategy in the small and medium-sized business (SMB) market.

Formed in 2008, SiteLock had previously been majority owned by Unitedweb, a company focused on early stage investments as an incubator.

“We recently have been acquired by ABRY Partners, and the idea here is to accelerate our growth both from a business size standpoint and the offerings we can provide our small business customers,” said Neill Feather, president of SiteLock, in an interview with FierceTelecom. “We felt it was the right time for us to start working with a new partner who can help us accelerate in both of those directions.”

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Feather said what SiteLock sees in ABRY is it is a partner that shares similar goals. 

“One of the things that was important to us was that they had a shared vision of the future in terms of what the opportunity is for SiteLock,” Feather said.

Feather said what sets SiteLock apart from others in the crowded network security space is that it has products that are specifically designed for the SMB space. Traditionally, SMBs have only been able to get access to either consumer-grade or reconstituted enterprise security software.

“Small businesses are underserved,” Feather said. “They are either given watered-down enterprise products or use consumer products. Neither of these solutions really meet the small business’ needs.”

Because SiteLock's services are based on software as a service, the company can deliver everything from the cloud to the SMB. Although SiteLock has products that can be installed on site, those are targeted at businesses that are self-hosting or hosting providers. 

SiteLock has carved out a name for itself by offering cloud-based website security solutions, which are being used to protect over 12 million websites globally. Companies like SiteLock have become increasingly relevant at a time when cyberattacks on websites are on the rise.

In the fourth quarter of 2017 alone, the average website experienced more than 44 attacks per day, and there was a 90% rise in the number of businesses targeted by ransomware, according to a SiteLock blog post. This resulted in a $5 billion financial impact. Attacks on SMBs' websites continue to accelerate.

“It may be a bit surprising to some people that criminals are attacking websites,” Feather said. “We see about 50 attacks a day on an average business website, even a small business website.”