timonium maryland 1983 1983 headquarters belcamp maryland united states products encryption semiconductor ip software monetization software as a service hardware security modules authentication security tokens number of employees 1 600 2011 parent gemalto divisions data protection software monetization website https safenet.gemalto.com safenet inc. was an information security company based in belcamp maryland united states . the company is now the fifth largest vendor in the security market and third largest provider of information security solutions in the world with revenues 500m . 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 it was notably one of the largest suppliers of encryption technology to the united states government . 3 now part of gemalto and marketed under the safenet product brand offerings include enterprise authentication data encryption and key management . safenet s software monetization products are now offered under gemalto s sentinel brand . contents 1 history 2 current and former subsidiaries 3 references 4 external links history edit 1983 safenet inc was founded in 1983 as industrial resource engineering by two nsa engineers and one entrepreneur named anthony a caputo . 1987 information resource engineering renamed to ire 1989 ire went public in an ipo . ire s ipo raised 4 million 1989 ire listed in nasdaq . ire rapidly becomes the leader in banking communications security with seven of the top 10 u.s. banks as customers and encryption devices used by swift global interbank transfer system . ire s zurich based subsidiary provided security for ubs and swiss canton interbank network . 1994 ire acquired connective strategies inc. connective strategies was co founded by charles d. brown and gary l. mcgreal . gary mcgreal was formerly a director at university of southern california s computer science think tank information sciences institute . charles brown participated in early experiments at strategic air command using tcp ip based networks for command and control applications and later worked for usc isi at darpa headquarters . 1995 ire released the first commercial vpn system called safenet specified by gary l. mcgreal based on designs originally developed at nsa . gary mcgreal became vp of marketing after the merger with ire . charles brown served as vp of sales and sold the vpn product into mci and cisco systems . charles brown had worked closely with mci vp vint cerf while at sac and also at mci . vint cerf is best known as the co designer of tcp ip the protocol suite used in the internet . other early customers included nsa and fbi . 1996 mci communications launched the first commercial vpn service using safenet technology 2000 ire renamed to safenet inc. after the vpn product line 2002 safenet acquired a dutch company securealink . with the collapse of the tech bubble safenet as a public company with a strong sales channel was able to acquire a series of promising security companies at deep discounts . february 2003 safenet acquired cylink and raqia networks october 2003 safenet acquired the oem business of ssh communications security 4 march 2004 safenet acquired rainbow technologies december 2004 safenet acquired datakey inc april 2005 safenet acquired dmdsecure b.v. june 2005 safenet acquired mediasentry december 2005 safenet acquired eracom technologies ag 2006 safenet was involved in the options backdating controversy . as a result both the chief executive officer and the chief financial officer resigned and in 2008 the company s former cfo was sentenced to six months in prison for manipulating employee stock options . 5 6 7 april 2007 a californian equity company vector capital bought the firm for 634 million making it private 8 april 2008 safenet acquired ingrian networks inc. may 2008 safenet acquired beep science as march 2009 safenet parent company vector capital acquired aladdin knowledge systems 9 april 2009 safenet sold mediasentry to artistdirect december 2009 safenet acquired assured decisions llc 10 december 2012 safenet sold its government solutions business unit to raytheon august 2014 safenet announced it is to be acquired by gemalto by the 4q 2014 11 current and former subsidiaries edit the former rainbow technologies subsidiary safenet government solutions llc formerly safenet mykotronx is still based in torrance california with offices in irvine california and columbia maryland . 12 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 . 13 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 llc provides infosec and comsec 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 nsa and the nro . 14 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 . 15 they previously developed the clipper chip . 16 17 in 2009 vector capital acquired aladdin knowledge systems and placed it under safenet with the annotation of under common management . in 2010 the two companies were officially merged . references edit safenet history . safenet inc. gemalto to acquire safenet the worldwide leader in data and software protection . 2014 08 08 . retrieved 2014 08 13 . roseanne gerin 2005 04 10 . safenet wins dod network security deal . washington technology magazine . retrieved 2008 12 08 . ssh sells its oem business to safenet . 2003 10 14 . jones associated dow october 19 2006 . safenet is roiled by options inquiry . the new york times . retrieved 2013 11 21 . reuters cost of backdating six months 1 million . 2008 01 30 . retrieved 2013 11 21 . safenet sold goes private . 2007 04 13 . aladdin knowledge systems completes merger with vector capital affiliate pdf . 2009 03 24 . safenet to acquire assured decisions llc . 2009 12 23 . gemalto buys safenet for 890 million . wsj.com . 2014 08 08 . retrieved 2015 01 09 . safenet offices north america . about safenet mykotronx . kiv 7 family . federation of american scientists . mykotronx wins defense card work . information about the clipper wiretap chip . the clipper chip a technical summary . external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title safenet & oldid 742584399 categories companies established in 1983computer companies of 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