Optiv Security Acquires Third-Party Risk Application Company Evantix

Optiv Security has made its second acquisition in less than a month, this time diving further into the market for third-party risk services.

The security solution provider, which was formed last year from the merger of Accuvant and FishNet Security, revealed Thursday that it had acquired Evantix, a company that produces a Software-as-a-Service application for managing third-party risk.

The acquisition marks an important expansion for Optiv into one of the most common security challenges for clients, according to James Christiansen, vice president of information risk management.

"This is the No. 1 problem [for businesses]: How do I not only secure my environment … but also the hundreds of thousands of companies we do business with, either directly or by sending data to?" Christiansen said. "This is a major pain point," he said.

The application from Newport Beach, Calif.-based Evantix will bring an added dimension to Optiv's existing third-party risk services, which already included a third-party risk maturity assessment, third-party risk management program development, third-party risk discovery and analysis, and third-party risk assessment. Christiansen said the Evantix application, which will be rebranded as a new Optiv service, "completes that suite" by adding a managed service offering for third-party risk reports. 

That offering is key for customers, Christiansen said, because the current process for security assessment of third-party vendors is manual and time-intensive. The reports are similar to a credit report, providing insight into a third-party vendor's security posture. Being able to buy a subscription for a cloud-based managed services offering is a "huge, huge burden off their shoulders," Christiansen said.  

For Optiv, the Evantix acquisition will allow the solution provider to ramp up its practice around third-party security risk, Christiansen said. The application will provide a secure delivery platform for its third-party risk practice, allowing it to accelerate more consistent services, he said. That's a platform that Optiv can continue to build on down the road, Christiansen said.

Optiv said Evantix's employees will become part of Optiv as part of the acquisition.

The acquisition is the Denver-based company's second in the past few weeks, following Optiv's purchase of identity and access management consultancy Advancive in April. The moves show Optiv's commitment to building its international and national footprint through acquisition, a goal the company set forth earlier this year, Christiansen said.

The acquisitions, in particular, are targeted at transforming Optiv from the two tactical solution providers it was before its merger into a much more strategic security partner.

"We're very much focused on providing a whole solution for a particular area like threat management, or in this case risk management, where we can serve clients from beginning to end," Christiansen said. "We're very focused on solving these problems for our clients and determining how we can become more valuable as a partner to them."