Level 3 Acquires DDoS Protection Firm Black Lotus to Boost Security Capabilities

logo-WHIR

This article originally appeared at The WHIR

Level 3 Communications has acquired DDoS protection company Black Lotus to boost its security product capabilities, the company announced Wednesday. Terms of the cash-only deal were not disclosed.

Level 3 launched its own DDoS service earlier in 2015, and will integrate Black Lotus’ technology and solutions into its security product portfolio. The new Level 3 DDoS Mitigation service provides enhanced network-based detection with a mitigation scrubbing solution and network routing, rate limiting, and IP filtering capabilities.

Black Lotus also brings its advanced behavioral analytics technology, and its proxy-based mitigation service provides added protection to the application layer, a popular target for effective DDoS attacks. Incapsula noted that bots were using a greater variety of assumed identities in application layer attacks in a report last month.

“At Level 3, we value security and are committed to protecting our customers and our network,” said Chris Richter, senior vice president of managed security services at Level 3. “Black Lotus’ proxy and behavioral technologies, combined with their experienced team of DDoS experts, perfectly complements Level 3’s DDoS mitigation and threat intelligence capabilities. With this acquisition, Level 3 continues its commitment of investing in a comprehensive portfolio of services that enhance the growth, efficiency and security of our customers’ operations, helping enterprises combat the cybersecurity challenges they face every day.”

Black Lotus had been privately held, and the company raised $6 million in financing in April 2014 to support its international ambitions.

Level 3 noted increases in DDoS threat frequency, volume, and complexity in a June report on botnets (PDF). The report noted a trend towards rogue virtual machines, and botnets-for-hire at $190 a month for 1,000 servers.

Level 3 shares on the NYSE (LVLT) jumped slightly higher from $52.65 to $53.16 on Wednesday, and have remained in the $52-53 range.

This first ran at http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/level-3-acquires-ddos-protection-firm-black-lotus-to-boost-security-capabilities