Not a Spanish company anymore, ownership is a Seattle company based in Spain.:
WatchGuard was initially established in 1996 under the name Seattle Software Labs, Inc.
[2] Its inaugural product was a network
firewall known as the WatchGuard Security Management System,
[3] which included the WatchGuard Firebox, a "firewall in a box" security appliance, along with configuration and administration software.
[4]
In 1997, the company rebranded itself as WatchGuard Technologies, Inc.
[2]
Come July 1999, WatchGuard Technologies, Inc. went public, trading on
Nasdaq.
[5]
In October 2006, the company was acquired for $151 million by private equity firms
Francisco Partners and
Vector Capital. Bruce Coleman assumed the role of interim CEO.
[6]
In August 2007, Joe Wang took over as the company's permanent CEO, succeeding Coleman.
[7][6]
In May 2014, CEO Wang stepped down, and interim CEO Michael Kohlsdorf, an operating partner with
Francisco Partners, assumed leadership.
[8]
In April 2015, Kohlsdorf passed the CEO mantle to Prakash Panjwani.
[9] It was announced that both Panjwani and Kohlsdorf were joining WatchGuard's board.
[10]
In June 2016, the company acquired HawkEye G, a threat-detection and response technology from Hexis Cyber Solutions, now part of KEYW Holding Corp.
[9] In October, the company launched the WatchGuard Wi-Fi Cloud to expand its network security coverage to Wi-Fi networks.
[11]
In August 2017, WatchGuard acquired Datablink, a provider of
multi-factor authentication software used to secure laptops, servers, and other devices.
[12]
In January 2018, the company acquired Percipient Networks, a
domain name system security service provider. Later it was renamed as DNSWatch.
[13]
In July 2018, the company unveiled AuthPoint, an application designed to offer
multi-factor authentication security for businesses.
[14]
In March 2020, WatchGuard announced an agreement to acquire Bilbao-based
Panda Security, a provider of network endpoint security.
[15] The deal was finalized in June.
[16]
