Imperva

Imperva, Inc.

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Cybersecurity
Predecessor	WebCohort
Founded	2002 (2002)
Founder	Shlomo Kramer, Amichai Shulman, Mickey Boodaei
Headquarters	San Mateo , United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Pam Murphy (CEO)
Products	Application security, data security, Web Application Firewall (WAF), DDoS mitigation, RASP, API security, bot management, data masking
Owner	Thales Group
Parent	Thales Group

Imperva, Inc. is a U.S.-based cybersecurity firm focused on delivering software and services designed to safeguard enterprise applications and data. The company’s headquarters are located in San Mateo, California. In 2023, the French multinational Thales Group completed the acquisition of Imperva for roughly $3.6 billion, purchasing it from private equity investor Thoma Bravo.

History

Originally established in 2002 under the name WebCohort by founders Shlomo Kramer, Amichai Shulman, and Mickey Boodaei, the company introduced its inaugural product, SecureSphere Web Application Database Protection—a web application firewall—in 2003. The firm adopted the Imperva name in 2004.

Imperva became a publicly traded company in 2011, debuting on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: IMPV). Anthony Bettencourt was appointed as CEO in August 2014. In 2016, Imperva launched a complimentary scanning tool aimed at identifying devices susceptible to the Mirai botnet.

In February 2017, Imperva divested its Skyfence unit to Forcepoint for $40 million. Later that year, Chris Hylen, previously CEO of Citrix GetGo, assumed the roles of president and CEO. Early in 2018, Bettencourt stepped down from his chairman position. During that same year, Imperva uncovered a significant security vulnerability in Google Chrome.

The company was acquired by private equity firm Thoma Bravo in 2019. That year also saw Imperva reveal a data breach impacting some users of Incapsula. CEO Chris Hylen left the company in October 2019; Charles Goodman temporarily filled the CEO role until Pam Murphy was appointed in January 2020.

In July 2023, Thales Group announced an agreement to purchase Imperva for $3.6 billion, with the acquisition finalized in December 2023. This transaction broadens Thales’ cybersecurity capabilities and extends its global reach.

Acquisitions

Imperva expanded its offerings through several acquisitions: In 2014, it secured complete control of Incapsula, a cloud security startup formerly known as SkyFence, along with real-time mainframe security auditing technology acquired from Tomium Software. February 2017 saw the acquisition of Camouflage, a firm specializing in data masking solutions. In August 2018, Imperva incorporated Prevoty, a runtime application self-protection (RASP) provider, into its portfolio. The company further strengthened bot management by acquiring Distil Networks in July 2019. Most recently, in October 2020, Imperva purchased jSonar, a database security startup; financial details were not disclosed.

Services

Imperva offers an integrated software suite that ensures robust protection for applications and data across on-premises infrastructures, cloud platforms, and hybrid environments. Its application security solutions encompass Web Application Firewall (WAF), Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) mitigation, Runtime Application Self-Protection (RASP), API security measures, bot management systems, Account Takeover (ATO) defense, attack analytics, and application delivery optimization. The data security segment includes Data Activity Monitoring (DAM), analytics for data risk assessment, data masking technologies, discovery and evaluation tools, as well as file protection services. This multi-layered strategy enables organizations to defend their digital assets effectively while adapting to dynamic cybersecurity challenges.