 | |
| Company type | Private, Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Information security |
| Founded | Timonium, Maryland 1983 (1983) |
| Headquarters |
,
United States
|
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Encryption, Semiconductor IP, software monetization, Software as a Service, hardware security modules, authentication, security tokens |
Number of employees | 1,600 (2011) |
| Parent | Thales Group |
| Divisions | Data Protection, Software Monetization |
| Website | cpl.thalesgroup.com |
SafeNet, Inc. was an information security company based in Belcamp, Maryland, United States, which was acquired in August 2014 by the French security company Gemalto. Gemalto was, in turn, acquired by Thales Group in 2019. The former SafeNet's products include solutions for enterprise authentication, data encryption, and key management. SafeNet's software monetization products are sold under the Thales Sentinel brand.
SafeNet was notably one of the largest suppliers of encryption technology to the United States Government.[1]
On 8 August 2014, Gemalto announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the share capital of SafeNet from Vector Capital for US$890 million on a debt free/cash free basis.[2] A subsequent acquisition of Gemalto by French rival Thales Group was completed on 2 April 2019.[3]
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The former Rainbow Technologies subsidiary SafeNet Government Solutions, formerly SafeNet Mykotronx, is still based in Torrance, California with offices in Irvine, California and Columbia, Maryland.[20] The company was founded in 1979 as Myko Enterprises. It changed its name to Mykotronx, Inc in 1987 and merged with SafeNet as part of the SafeNet merger with Rainbow in 2004.[21] SafeNet Government Solutions, LLC has been operationally merged into SafeNet and the lines between the two organizations have been intentionally blurred due to financial reasons. SafeNet Government Solutions is no longer considered a subsidiary. SafeNet Government Solutions provides information security and communications security technology for the US government. The firm has an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract for its KIV-7 line of commercial off-the-shelf cryptographic devices that provide protection for digital and voice communications through TOP SECRET, used by agencies such as the National Security Agency (NSA) and the National Reconnaissance Office.[22] Other products include the KOV-14 Fortezza Plus PC card which was developed as part of the NSA's NSSI program and is used on Secure Terminal Equipment.[23] They previously developed the Clipper chip.[24][25]
In 2009, Vector Capital acquires Aladdin Knowledge Systems, and placed it under SafeNet with the annotation of 'under common management'. In 2010, the two companies were officially merged.
