Ping Identity Acquires Bot Detection Startup SecuredTouch

‘We decided we wanted to lean in [to behavioral analytics] a little harder. Our philosophies align, our technologies align, and the deal came together fairly quickly,’ says Ping Identity COO Kris Nagel.

Ping Identity has bought bot detection and mitigation startup SecuredTouch to provide identity, risk, and fraud teams with early visibility into potential malicious activity.

The Denver-based identity security vendor said Tel Aviv, Israel-based SecuredTouch takes advantage of behavioral biometrics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning to detect bots and protect against account takeover. Customers will be able to deploy SecuredTouch as a standalone offering or as part of the broader Ping One Cloud Platform, according to the company.

The acquisition will allow Ping to provide more intelligence and capabilities around customer identity, which accounts for more than half of the company’s revenue globally, according to Chief Operating Officer Kris Nagel. Specifically, Nagel said SecuredTouch’s technology will make it easier to evaluate the risk associated with a particular user or device on an ongoing basis rather than at a given point in time.

[Related: Ping Identity Buys Symphonic Software To Add Policy-Driven Authorization]

Existing Ping customers will for the first time have access to bot detection capabilities because of the SecuredTouch acquisition, and can also go further from an analysis perspective with SecuredTouch’s device emulation tools. From a metrics standpoint, Nagel said Ping plans to track sign-ups from net new customers, wallet share from existing customers, and the acceleration of risk management capabilities.

“We decided we wanted to lean in [to behavioral analytics] a little harder,” Nagel told CRN. “Our philosophies align, our technologies align, and the deal came together fairly quickly.”

The combination of SecuredTouch and the Ping One Cloud Platform will provide customers with access to advanced signals, data, and intelligence to gain a greater understanding of fraudster behavior, the company said. The integration will also enable step up authentication as needed to stop malicious activity and reduce fraud loss, according to Ping Identity.

SecuredTouch was founded in 2015, employs 39 people, and has raised $11.5 million in three rounds of outside funding, according to LinkedIn and Crunchbase. The company most recently closed an $8 million Series A round in April 2018 led by Arvato Financial Solutions.

“Ping Identity is the perfect fit for our team, products, and technology,” SecuredTouch Co-Founder and General Manager Ran Shulkind said in a statement. “We look forward to joining forces to accelerate our mission of bringing the most advanced fraud detection solutions to companies across the globe.”

SecuredTouch provides customers with the ability to reduce fraud losses, catch risky behavior on critical digital assets, and increase security all while improving user experience, Ping Identity said. Terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed, and the company’s stock remains unchanged at $23.56 per share in after-hours trading Monday.

“This is a defining moment for our industry as identity security and fraud come together,” SecuredTouch CEO Alasdair Rambaud said in a statement. “Ping Identity’s enterprise proven and robust platform provides the perfect foundation for SecuredTouch’s advanced fraud detection capabilities.”

This is Ping Identity’s third acquisition in nine months. The company in November 2020 bought dynamic authorization vendor Symphonic Software, which protects APIs, data, apps and resources, and a month earlier purchased startup ShoCard, which allows users to collect and store personal identity information on their phone and then unlock and share that information using facial or fingerprint biometrics.

The company also announced two new products during its Identiverse 2021 event Monday. PingOne for Individuals allows businesses to give their users full control over how they store and share verified personal data without adding friction, while the PingOne Cloud Platform and Dynamic Authorization Solution helps enterprises deliver a safer online experience for their customers and workforce.