April 03, 2017

Accenture Completes Acquisition of iDefense Security Intelligence Services, Expands Ability to Provide Clients with Faster, More Complete Threat Intelligence

ARLINGTON, VA; Apr.3, 2017 – In a move to provide clients with better and more comprehensive threat intelligence, Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has completed its acquisition of the iDefense Security Intelligence Services business from VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN). iDefense is one of the world’s first and most prolific cyber threat intelligence businesses with proven capabilities in making its intelligence both timely and actionable for clients.

The acquisition, which was first announced on February 9, 2017, brings more capabilities to Accenture Security, by boosting its existing Cyber Defense Services with better threat intelligence to augment the services it manages for clients’ security operations. iDefense’s capabilities will also become an integral component of Accenture’s adversary simulation, threat hunting and breach response and remediation offerings.

“Completing this acquisition of iDefense dramatically increases the breadth of our threat intelligence capabilities and enables us to get closer to where threats are propagating so we can help clients detect attacks faster,” said Kelly Bissell, managing director of Accenture Security. “We are very excited to welcome the iDefense team to Accenture. Together, we are well positioned to deliver unparalleled enterprise threat intelligence solutions as well as build upon our established market leadership in cyber defense services.”

@Accenture_Secure’s acquisition of #iDefense brings unparalleled threat intelligence to clients

Over the past 18 years, iDefense has amassed vast amounts of proprietary threat intelligence data that powers its distinctive analysis platform, IntelGraph and its application program interfaces (APIs). Along with bringing powerful insights to Accenture’s clients’ threat intelligence teams, these key capabilities will fuel the Accenture Cybersecurity Engine (ACE) and enable clients to know where threats are forming and coming from, and what actions to take – much earlier than other providers leveraging public data feeds. ACE is a powerful platform that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze data across an organization’s entire attack surface in order to predict, detect and eliminate threats.

Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Northern Virginia, iDefense serves top-tier organizations across a range of industries – including banking, communications, media, technology and products.

About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions – underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network – Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders With approximately 401,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

Accenture Security helps organizations build resilience from the inside out, so they can confidently focus on innovation and growth. Leveraging its global network of cybersecurity labs, deep industry understanding across client value chains and services that span the security lifecycle, Accenture protects organizations’ valuable assets, end-to-end. With services that include strategy and risk management, cyber defense, digital identity, application security and managed security, Accenture enables businesses around the world to defend against known sophisticated threats, and the unknown. Follow us @AccentureSecure on Twitter or visit us at www.accenture.com/security.

Forward-Looking Statements
Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “likely,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “projects,” “believes,” “estimates,” “positioned,” “outlook” and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. 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Statements in this news release speak only as of the date they were made, and Accenture undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements made in this news release or to conform such statements to actual results or changes in Accenture’s expectations.

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Contact:

Alison Geib
Accenture
+ 1 703 947 4404
alison.geib@accenture.com