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{{Short description|American cybersecurity company}}{{Distinguish|Proofpoint Systems, Inc.}}{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2019}}

factoids

| founder = Eric Hahn| area_served = | key_people = Sumit Dhawan (CEO)Marcel DePaolis (CTO)Rémi Thomas (CFO)| industry = Security software| genre = | products = Identity threat defenseEmail filteringEmail privacyEmail encryptionEmail archivingAnti-spam techniquesElectronic discoveryData loss prevention software| services = 1.050 billionDATE=DECEMBER 31, 2020ACCESS-DATE=AUGUST 31, 2021, {{increase}} –US$95.196 million (2020)}}{{decrease}} –US$163.809 million (2020)}}| assets = {{increase}} US$2.498 billion (2020)| equity = {{decrease}} US$441.744 million (2020)| owner = Thoma Bravo| num_employees = 3,658 (2020)| parent = | divisions = | subsid = | footnotes = Sunnyvale, California| location_country = U.S.| location = Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States (California, Colorado, Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia)HTTPS://WWW.PROOFPOINT.COM/US/CONTACT/OFFICE-LOCATIONSDATE=AUGUST 30, 2016, Proofpoint, | website = {{Official URL}}}}(File:ProofpointToronto.jpg|thumb|Proofpoint office in Toronto)Proofpoint, Inc. is an American enterprise cybersecurity company based in Sunnyvale, California that provides software as a service and products for email security, identity threat defense, data loss prevention, electronic discovery, and email archiving.In 2021, Proofpoint was acquired by private equity firm Thoma Bravo for $12.3 billion.PRESS RELEASE, August 31, 2021, Thoma Bravo Completes Acquisition of Proofpoint,weblink GlobeNewswire,

History

Company

The company was founded in July 2002 by Eric Hahn, formerly the CTO of Netscape Communications. It launched July 21, 2003, after raising a $7 million Series A funding round, releasing its first product, and lining up six customers as references, and was backed by venture investors Benchmark Capital and Stanford University.WEB, Lacy, Sarah, July 20, 2003, (fee required), Proofpoint Joins Anti-Spam Crowd,weblink August 3, 2020, BizJournals.com, An additional $9 million in Series B funding led by New York-based RRE Ventures was announced in October, 2003.Proofpoint adds funding, San Jose Business Journal, Oct 14, 2003.Proofpoint became a publicly traded company in April 2012. At the time of its initial public offering (IPO), the company's shares traded at $13 apiece; investors purchased more than 6.3 million shares through the IPO, raising more than $80 million.WEB,weblink The New York Times, April 20, 2012, Proofpoint and Infoblox Rise on Debuts, July 14, 2012, On April 26, 2021, Proofpoint announced that it had agreed to be acquired by the private equity firm Thoma Bravo.WEB, Proofpoint Agreed To Be Acquired By Thoma Bravo, April 26, 2021,weblink (File:Proofpoint Co-Founder & Chairman Eric Hahn with CEO Gary Steele.png|thumb|upright|Proofpoint Co-Founder & Chairman Eric Hahn [left] with then CEO Gary Steele [right] at Proofpoint's 15 year anniversary celebration.)

Product history

The company's first product was the Proofpoint Protection Server (PPS) for medium and large businesses. It incorporated what was described as "MLX Technology", proprietary machine learning algorithms applied to the problem of accurately identifying spam email using 10,000 different attributes to differentiate between spam and valid email. The company joined dozens of other anti-spam software providers in a business opportunity fueled by an exponential increase in spam volume that was threatening worker productivity, making spam a top business priority.Fighting Spam, Fueling Growth, InformationWeek Research's Outlook 2004 Survey {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091208080740weblink |date=December 8, 2009 }}. According to the 2004 National Technology Readinesed the number of spam detection attributes to more than 50,000{{ambiguous|date=November 2020|reason=What does this sentence mean?}}.Proofpoint improves spam prevention, Nov 3, 2003, NetworkWorld {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080531031643weblink |date=May 31, 2008 }}In 2004, strict new HIPAA regulations governing financial disclosures and the privacy of health care data prompted Proofpoint to begin developing new products that would automatically identify and intercept outbound email containing sensitive information.WEB,weblink E-Mail Inspector, Technology, Review, MIT Technology Review, In March 2004, Proofpoint introduced its first hardware appliance, the P-Series Message Protection Appliance (later renamed Proofpoint Messaging Security Gateway), using a hardened Linux kernel and Proofpoint's Protection Server 2.0 software.IronPort, Proofpoint appliances target spam, NetworkWorld, March 15, 2004 {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080531031649weblink |date=May 31, 2008 }} It was tested by Infoworld and found to stop 94% of spam.BorderWare and Proofpoint boxes are both capable spam combatants, Infoworld, May 28, 2004 {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080616170257weblink |date=June 16, 2008 }}Another product introduction in November 2004 included Protection Server 3.0, with Email Firewall and MLX-based Dynamic Reputation Analysis, and the Content Security Suite, plug-in modules designed for scanning outbound messages and their attachments to assist in compliance with data protection regulations such as Sarbanes–Oxley, HIPAA, and Gramm–Leach–Bliley. In combination, this was known as the Proofpoint Messaging Security Gateway Appliance. It was reviewed by ChannelWeb, which observed that it used a "combination of technologies: policy-based management, a spam-filtering engine and adaptive learning technology."weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080605213325weblink">"ProofPoint Appliance Stands Guard At E-Mail Gate", ChannelWeb, November 26, 2004Proofpoint introduced a new product, the Network Content Sentry, as an add-on appliance to the Content Security Suite in August 2005."Proofpoint, Voltage Team on E-Mail Encryption"{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, eweek.com, August 1, 2005. Designed to monitor online messaging other than email, the appliance monitors Web mail, message boards, blogs and FTP-based communications. Proofpoint also introduced policy-based email encryption features, using identity-based encryption technology licensed from Voltage Security.

Virtual appliance development

In a step towards simpler operational requirements, the Proofpoint Messaging Security Gateway Virtual Edition was released in April 2007. The product runs as a virtual appliance on a host running VMware's virtual server software.CRN Test Center Review: A Virtual Solution To Spam, ChannelWeb, Apr 23, 2007 {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080607024928weblink |date=June 7, 2008 }} Moving a dedicated hardware appliance to a virtual server eliminates problems associated with proprietary hardware and reduces upgrade costs,WEB,weblink When appliances get out of hand, Denise, Dubie, Network World, April 4, 2007,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080614225048weblink">weblink June 14, 2008, dead, September 5, 2019, though it does require knowledge of VMware's virtual server architecture.Proofpoint Messaging Security Gateway V5.0 was released in June 2007, and was based on a new, integrated architecture, combining all its capabilities into a single platform.WEB,weblink Proofpoint Intros Proofpoint 5, ByteandSwitch, June 4, 2007, June 6, 2008,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080509091939weblink">weblink May 9, 2008, dead, It could be run either as a dedicated appliance, virtual appliance, or software suite.ICSA Labs, an independent division of Verizon Business, announced in April 2007, that it had certified six anti-spam products under their new testing program, one of which was the Proofpoint Messaging Security Gateway. The goal of ICSA Labs' anti-spam product testing and certification is to evaluate product effectiveness in detecting and removing spam. The guidelines also address how well the products recognize e-mail messages from legitimate sources.WEB,weblink Earth Times: show/icsa-labs-introduces-formal-testing-of-anti-spam-products,345941.shtml, EarthTimes.org, June 6, 2008, May 20, 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110520052858weblink">weblink dead,

Software as a service

Moving into the software-as-a-service business, Proofpoint introduced Proofpoint on Demand, a hosted version of its email security and data loss prevention offerings.WEB,weblink Proofpoint jumps into security services fray, Cara, Garretson, Network World, August 7, 2007,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080612232234weblink">weblink June 12, 2008, dead, September 5, 2019, In May, 2008, the company's hosted offerings were expanded with the introduction of Proofpoint on Demand—Standard Edition.WEB,weblink Proofpoint Offers On Demand Email Security for SMBs, EBizQ.net, November 17, 2015, The product is targeted at small-to-medium size businesses that need email security but do not run their own servers or have on-site IT personnel.

Products

Proofpoint products are designed to solve three business problems: advanced cybersecurity threats, regulatory compliance, and brand-impostor fraud (which it calls "digital risk"). These products work across email, social media, mobile devices, and the cloud.NEWS,weblink Proofpoint Enterprise Protection: Product overview, SearchSecurity, March 24, 2017, NEWS,weblink Proofpoint Email Encryption: Product overview, SearchSecurity, March 24, 2017, WEB,weblink Proofpoint releases Proofpoint Intelligent Supervision {{!, Compliance Week|website=ComplianceWeek.com|access-date=March 24, 2017|archive-date=April 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170423043447weblink|url-status=dead}}WEB,weblink The Forrester Wave: Digital Risk Monitoring, Q3 2016, Forrester.com, March 14, 2017,

Email security

Proofpoint offers software or SaaS aimed at different facets of email security. Its flagship product the Proofpoint Messaging Security Gateway.WEB, Email Protection,weblink Proofpoint, October 10, 2019, 9 November 2020, The Messaging Security Gateway is a web-based application that offers spam protection; based on both user defined rules as well as dynamically updated definitions,WEB, Proofpoint Spam Detection,weblink proofpoint Spam Detection, Proofpoint, Inc., 9 November 2020, anti-virus scanning, and configurable email firewall rules. The spam-protection service, however, results in many false positives of legitimate email servers and blocks IPs. A webform is provided to request an IP be unblocked, but they are non-responsive.WEB,weblink Proofpoint blocking emails, Jun 5, 2013, discussions.apple.com, November 9, 2023, WEB,weblink IP Address blocked by Proofpointwebsite=linode.com community questions, HTTPS://WWW.REDDIT.COM/R/SYSADMIN/COMMENTS/A2P410/PROOFPOINT_WONT_UNBLOCK_ME/>TITLE=PROOFPOINT WON'T UNBLOCK ME...WEBSITE=REDDIT.COM SYSADMIN SUBREDDIT, HTTPS://WWW.REDDIT.COM/R/PROOFPOINT/COMMENTS/SVGU7B/NO_RESPONSE_FROM_PROOFPOINT_AFTER_IP_ADDRESSS_IS/>TITLE=NO RESPONSE FROM PROOFPOINT AFTER IP ADDRESSS IS BLOCKED WITHOUT ANY REASONWEBSITE=REDDIT.COM PROOFPOINT SUBREDDIT, HTTPS://DISCOURSE.MAILINABOX.EMAIL/T/PROOFPOINT-IP-IS-BLOCKED/9422>TITLE=PROOFPOINT - IP IS BLOCKEDWEBSITE=DISCOURSE.MAILINABOX.EMAIL, Additionally, in June 2008, Proofpoint acquired Fortiva, Inc., a provider of on-demand email archiving software for legal discovery, regulatory compliance and email storage management.WEB,weblink Proofpoint acquires Fortiva, Robert, McMillan, June 24, 2008, Network World, Fortiva used Exchange journaling to automatically archive all internal and external communications so that end users can search all archived messages, including attachments, directly from a search folder in Outlook.NEWS,weblink FBI: Email Scams Take $3.1 Billion Toll on Businesses, June 15, 2016, Threatpost {{!, The first stop for security news|access-date=March 24, 2017}}

Cybersecurity

Proofpoint's security portfolio includes products that stop both traditional cyberattacks (delivered via malicious attachments and URLs) and socially engineered attacks—such as business email compromise (BEC) and credential phishing—that do not use malware.NEWS,weblink Wiping out email fraud, June 16, 2016, March 24, 2017,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160618123646weblink">weblink June 18, 2016, unfit, It uses a blend of sandbox analysis, reputational analysis, automated threat data, human threat intelligence and attributes such as sender/recipient relationship, headers, and content, and more to detect potential threats. Automated encryption, data-loss prevention and forensics-gathering tools are designed to speed incident response and mitigate the damage and costs of any threats that do get through. The portfolio also includes protection from social-media account takeovers, harmful mobile apps, and rogue Wi-Fi networks.

Regulatory compliance

Proofpoint's compliance products are designed to reduce the manual labor involved in identifying potentially sensitive data, managing and supervising it in compliance with government and industry rules, and producing it quickly in e-discovery legal requests.WEB,weblink Proofpoint Announces Intelligent Supervision and Compliance Gateway to Help Customers with FINRA and SEC Audits {{!, Proofpoint|website=Proofpoint.com|date=June 2016|access-date=March 24, 2017}}

Digital risk

Proofpoint's digital risk products are aimed at companies seeking to stop cybercriminals from impersonating their brand to harm customers, partners, and the brand's reputation. Its email digital risk portfolio includes authentication technology to prevent email domain spoofing.WEB,weblink The Forrester Wave: Digital Risk Monitoring, Q3 2016, Forrester.com, March 24, 2017, On social media, it stops scams in which fraudsters create fake customer-service accounts to find people seeking help over social media and trick them into handing over account credentials or visiting a malicious website.WEB,weblink Social Media Phishing Soars, New Trend Is Fake Customer Service, Mediapost.com, March 24, 2017, And in mobile, it finds counterfeit apps distributed through mobile app stores.NEWS,weblink Mobile Devices: What Could Go Wrong?, March 24, 2017, In the 2016 Forrester Wave for Digital Risk Monitoring, Q3 2016 the Proofpoint digital risk / social media product was included in an evaluation of the nine top vendors in this emerging market. These monitor "digital" (i.e. social, mobile, web, and dark web) channels to detect, prevent, malicious or unwanted content from undermining organizational efforts to build brand across all major social media platforms. On October 23, 2014 Proofpoint acquired Nexgate, Inc., a social media and security compliance vendor.WEB, Proofpoint acquires Nexgate for $35 million,weblink SC Media, October 24, 2014, On November 4, 2015 Proofpoint acquired Socialware Inc., a compliance workflow & content capture and review technology company.WEB,weblink nexgate-blog-proofpoint-acquires-socialware--expan, Owler.com, February 22, 2018,

Acquisitions{| class"wikitable"

! Date! Company! Terms|November 2023|Tessian LimitedDATE=2023-10-30 URL=HTTPS://WWW.TESSIAN.COM/BLOG/PROOFPOINT-ANNOUNCES-INTENT-TO-ACQUIRE-TESSIAN/ WEBSITE=TESSIAN, 2023-10-30 >TITLE=PROOFPOINT SIGNS DEFINITIVE AGREEMENT TO ACQUIRE TESSIAN {{!, Proofpoint US access-date=2023-10-30 language=en-us}}|December 2022|Illusive NetworksAGENCY=GLOBENEWSWIRE, 2022-12-28, |January 2022|Dathena ScienceWEBSITE=PROOFPOINT, 2024-01-09, | May 2020WEBSITE=FINANCE.YAHOO.COMACCESS-DATE=2020-05-08, | Less than $5 million| November 3, 2019date=2019-11-03access-date=2019-11-06}}| $225 million in cash| May 6, 2019WEBSITE=META NETWORKS, June 1, 2019, DATE=MAY 8, 2019LAST=ZURKUSDATE=MAY 7, 2019, | Feb 6, 2018| Wombat Security Technologies, IncLAST=STACEYDATE=FEBRUARY 6, 2018ACCESSDATE=FEBRUARY 6, 2018, HTTPS://WWW.BIZJOURNALS.COM/PITTSBURGH/NEWS/2018/03/01/PROOFPOINT-COMPLETES-WOMBAT-ACQUISITION-AIMS-TO.HTML?ANA=TWT>TITLE=PROOFPOINT COMPLETES WOMBAT ACQUISITION, AIMS TO INCREASE REVENUE BY MILLIONSFIRST=LIANWEBSITE=PITTSBURGH BUSINESS TIMES, March 1, 2018, | Nov 29, 2017| Weblife.ioWEBSITE=PROOFPOINT.COMACCESS-DATE=2017-11-29, | Nov 7, 2017| CloudmarkLAST=LUNDENWORK=TECHCRUNCH, 2017-11-07, | Oct 20, 2016DATE=21 OCTOBER 2016, FIRST=VIVA SARAHWEBSITE=ISRAEL21C, October 25, 2016, | Aug. 24, 2016FIRST=ALLISON WORK=INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY ACCESS-DATE=2019-09-05, WEBSITE=SSO.451RESEARCH.COM, {{Dead linkbot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}| Nov 4, 2015DATE=4 NOVEMBER 2015WEBSITE=WSJ.COM, DATE=NOVEMBER 4, 2015 FORMAT=PDF, 2019-06-09, | Mar 2, 2015DATE=2 MARCH 2015WEBSITE=WSJ.COM, WEBSITE=EWEEK, March 3, 2015, | Oct 23, 2014DATE=24 OCTOBER 2014, SC Media, DATE=OCTOBER 23, 2014 FORMAT=PDF, 2019-06-09, | May 20, 2014DATE=20 MAY 2014, SC Media, WEBSITE=451RESEARCH.COM, | Oct 1, 2013| Sendmail, Inc.DATE=2 OCTOBER 2013WEBSITE=WSJ.COM, | Aug 9, 2013WEBSITE=SECURITYWEEK.COM, August 9, 2013, FIRST=ROBERTDATE=AUGUST 9, 2013, CRN, | Jul 25, 2013WEBSITE=BLOOMBERG.COM, July 6, 2023, | Undisclosed Terms| Jan 28, 2012WEBSITE=THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, | Undisclosed Terms| Oct 31, 2009| Everyone.netWEBSITE=MERGR, 2022-12-28, | August 1, 2008| Secure Data In MotionWEBSITE=MERGR, 2022-12-28, | June 24, 2008| FortivaWEBSITE=MERGR, 2022-12-28,

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

• {{Official website}}