CyberTrust
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Information security |
| Predecessor | TruSecure, Betrusted |
| Founded | November 1, 2004 in Virginia, United States |
| Fate | Acquired by Verizon Business (2007) |
| Headquarters | Fairfax County , United States |
| Products | Security services, digital certificates, root certificates |
CyberTrust emerged as a security services provider in Virginia in November 2004, resulting from the consolidation of TruSecure and Betrusted. Prior to this, Betrusted had acquired GTE Cybertrust. By obtaining a significant ownership interest in Ubizen, a Belgium-based European security services company, CyberTrust became one of the foremost global entities in information security. In 2007, it was purchased by Verizon Business. Later, in 2015, the root certificates owned by CyberTrust were transferred to DigiCert, Inc., a prominent worldwide Certificate Authority specializing in trusted identity verification and authentication solutions.
History
Originally established as a division under GTE Corporation's Government Systems Information Security Directorate, CyberTrust concentrated on providing security services tailored for electronic commerce, emphasizing authentication, privacy protection, data integrity, and non-repudiation through the use of Public Key Encryption. In 2000, GTE divested CyberTrust to Baltimore Technologies, headquartered in Ireland, for $150 million. Subsequently, Baltimore sold off its operational units, including digital certificate businesses, to BeTrusted Holdings, Inc. In September 2004, BeTrusted declared plans to merge with rival TruSecure Corporation; this union was formalized in November 2004 with the incorporation of CyberTrust in Virginia.
The acquisition of CyberTrust by Verizon Business occurred in 2007, reuniting it with its antecedent parent company (Verizon was formed through the merger of GTE and Bell Atlantic). The financial specifics of this transaction were not publicly disclosed. In 2015, DigiCert acquired CyberTrust’s root certificates without revealing the monetary terms.
In 2005, CyberTrust leveraged its majority shareholding to reduce the holdings of other Ubizen shareholders, compelling the purchase of remaining shares and subsequently removing Ubizen from public trading.
Betrusted originated as an initiative by PWC and was later sold to One Equity Partners (a division within Bank 1), which also acquired 90 East and SecureNet—the latter having previously obtained Baltimore’s PKI division and iSecure's gateway operations.
Present
The transfer of CyberTrust’s root certificates has elevated DigiCert to become the second-largest Certificate Authority (CA) specializing in high-assurance SSL Certificates. DigiCert currently oversees the trusted root and intermediate certificates initially issued by CyberTrust/Verizon, while Verizon continues distributing DigiCert SSL Certificates through its channels.
Following this transfer, DigiCert formed a strategic partnership with Cybertrust Japan to strengthen its footprint within Asia. Together they established Cyber Secure Asia, a fully owned subsidiary of Cybertrust Japan based in Singapore, tasked with promoting DigiCert’s certificate technologies throughout Southeast Asia.
References