Netpliance

TippingPoint Technologies

Company type	Private (formerly)
Industry	Computer hardware, computer software, network security
Founded	January 1999 (1999-01)
Founder	John F. McHale, Kent A. Savage, Kenneth A. Kalinoski
Defunct	2015
Fate	Acquired by Trend Micro
Headquarters	Austin, Texas , United States
Products	Intrusion Prevention Systems (e.g., TippingPoint NGIPS)
Parent	Trend Micro (2015–)

TippingPoint Technologies operated as a U.S.-based enterprise in the computer hardware and software sector from 1999 until 2015, with a primary concentration on network security solutions, notably intrusion prevention systems. The company was acquired by Trend Micro in 2015.

History

The company was established in January 1999 under the name Shbang! in Texas, founded by John F. McHale, Kent A. Savage (who served as the initial CEO), and Kenneth A. Kalinoski. Its early focus was on creating and marketing Internet appliances.<ref> By May 1999, the firm rebranded to Netpliance and introduced the i-Opener, an affordable web access device sold below cost with revenue derived from subscription services. To enforce subscription compliance, Netpliance charged termination fees when customers bypassed the service agreement. In 2001, the Federal Trade Commission imposed a $100,000 penalty on the company for deceptive advertising practices and unfair billing policies.<ref>

In 2002, Netpliance withdrew from the internet appliance industry and adopted the name TippingPoint.<ref> At this time, chairman McHale replaced Savage as CEO; McHale resigned from the CEO role in 2004 but continued as chairman, with Kip McClanahan taking over as CEO.

TippingPoint was purchased by networking equipment manufacturer 3Com in January 2005 for $442 million,<ref> functioning as a division under leaders James Hamilton and subsequently Alan Kessler. Later, in April 2010, Hewlett-Packard acquired 3Com for roughly $2.7 billion.<ref>

On October 21, 2015, Trend Micro completed its acquisition of TippingPoint from HP for an estimated $300 million.<ref>

Technology

The TippingPoint NGIPS is an Intrusion Prevention System designed to protect IT infrastructures from threats. It combines application-level defenses, user identification capabilities, and inspection of both inbound and outbound communications to secure applications, networks, and data assets.

In September 2013, HP entered the next-generation firewall arena by launching a new series of TippingPoint firewalls. These devices enhanced existing IPS products by incorporating conventional stateful packet filtering alongside sophisticated application control features.

References

Notes

• Trend Micro To Acquire HP TippingPoint For $300M. hp.com

External links

• TippingPoint Official Site
• SEC filings search for Netpliance