AT&T Completes Divestiture of Cybersecurity Services Group to Form Joint Venture
AT&T has successfully completed the divestiture of its cybersecurity services group, forming a joint venture with over 1,000 employees in 10 countries. The new entity, named LevelBlue, will focus on managed cybersecurity services.
LevelBlue will incorporate AT&T’s managed service business, cybersecurity consulting business, and assets from AT&T’s acquisition of AlienVault in 2018, including the Open Threat Exchange (OTX) community. Robert McCullen, chairman and CEO of LevelBlue, emphasized that the company will offer services such as managed firewalls, secure web gateways, email gateways, content filtering, and security operations center management.
The move comes as AT&T seeks to reduce debt from previous acquisitions of DirecTV and TimeWarner, as well as a failed bid to acquire T-Mobile. With a current debt of $143 billion, AT&T is looking to streamline its operations for financial stability.
LevelBlue will start in a strong position, having ranked fourth on the list of the top 250 managed security service providers in 2022. The company plans to participate in future rankings as it grows and adapts to new market trends.
Experts anticipate that LevelBlue will need to evolve beyond traditional security services to differentiate itself in the market. The company aims to expand its offerings and tailor products to attract new customers, particularly in the managed detection and response (MDR) sector.
The formation of LevelBlue will also bring a close partnership with AT&T, initially servicing the network provider’s customers and establishing a strong bond between the two entities.
Additionally, LevelBlue will invest in research and development, focusing on threat research and new product development with the use of artificial intelligence capabilities. The company aims to leverage data from the OTX community to enhance threat detection and response capabilities.
Overall, LevelBlue is poised to make a mark in the cybersecurity industry, catering to the evolving needs of businesses and organizations for robust cybersecurity solutions.
