CA boosts fraud prevention with Arcot Systems buy

Arcot Systems specialises in tackling credit card fraud

CA Technologies has announced plans to extend its cloud security capabilities with the acquisition of Arcot Systems, a provider of fraud prevention and authentication tools.

The $200m (£129m) acquisition will help CA strengthen its Identity and Access Management (IAM) offerings, the firm said

Arcot's tools can be delivered on-premise or via the cloud, and could radically cut the amount of credit card fraud affecting businesses and merchants, CA claimed.

The software giant said it intends to combine Arcot's technology with its own CA SiteMinder portfolio to enhance its tools designed to reduce risk, secure business transactions and comply with regulatory requirements.

The purchase also fits with CA's cloud security strategy, enabling it to provide its IAM tools more easily as a service delivered via the cloud, it said.

"Arcot brings to CA a strong business in fraud prevention and unique capabilities in advanced authentication using a software-only approach," said Dave Hansen, general manager for the security business at CA.

"This acquisition adds industry leading technology that extends the breadth and depth of our strong identity and access management portfolio, and gives our customers more first class options for securing their web-based business."

Ram Varadarajan, president and chief executive at Arcot Systems, added that identity management is a critical area of security, whether delivered on-premise or via the cloud.

"With 120 million identities verified by our solutions today, we bring a strong, solid recurring revenue base as well as sources of new growth opportunities for CA," he said.

The deal is expected to close at the end of September and, with Nimsoft and 3tera, marks yet another recent purchase for the firm in the cloud area.