MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IronNet Cybersecurity, a leader in network detection and response (NDR) and real-time threat sharing, and Dragos, Inc., the global leader in cybersecurity for industrial controls systems (ICS)/operational technologies (OT), today announced that they are launching a new joint initiative designed to help ensure the security of the nation’s critical infrastructure through an integrated IT-OT approach to cybersecurity.
The IronNet and Dragos joint initiative spans both companies’ respective technical and business domains and is focused on integrating the IronNet IronDome and the Dragos Neighborhood Keeper threat intelligence sharing and community-wide visibility solutions in order to increase the overall security posture of organizations — and enable them to focus on core business and digital transformation efforts. As threats to business and operational networks increase in frequency and sophistication, this “collective defense” approach can provide organizations across public and private sectors with an effective way to defend against highly organized and well-funded cyber attacks.
Tom Fanning, Chairman, President and CEO of Southern Company and a Commissioner of the U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission, said, “As we highlighted in the U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission report, two of the six pillars of our recommendations — Reshaping the Cyber Ecosystem and Operationalizing Cybersecurity Collaboration Between the Public and Private Sectors — emphasize the importance of collaborating to provide a better and more resilient cyber defense for our country. IronNet and Dragos exemplify this approach with their complementary approaches to collective defense as an effective way to protect our critical infrastructure.”
Threat actors driven to disrupt operations are eyeing vulnerabilities in the IT space as a viable entry point to OT infrastructure. Though OT infrastructure was once locked down by hardwired assets and segmented environments that were difficult to breach, the digitalization of operations has markedly increased connectivity changing the security posture of these industrial environments and making them more vulnerable.
“Every year it seems the industry has multiple wake up calls whether it’s from state actors or criminal networks. That risk, coupled with the digital transformation of our infrastructure, is simply not reducing. However, our infrastructure companies want to do more but they want to do it as a community instead of every company having to protect themselves in isolation. We have come together to work hand-in-hand with IronNet to ensure we’re solving customer challenges through an integrated IT-OT collective defense approach so that we can all better protect our communities,” said Robert M. Lee, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Dragos, Inc.
“IronNet shares a common vision with Dragos to bring a holistic cybersecurity approach to organizations in their battle against nation-state adversaries. IT security must secure the network and data on it, whether on-premise or in the cloud, without limiting business productivity, while OT security must secure the processes, people, and environments to ensure the safety, availability, and resilience of operational systems,” said IronNet Co-CEO General (Ret.) Keith Alexander. “IronNet’s mission is to defend the nation through collective defense, and the security of critical infrastructure is at the core of our commitment.”
Dragos’s Neighborhood Keeper is a collective defense and community-wide visibility solution that provides a more effective industrial cyber defense. It does this by providing network visibility, performing threat detection across participants, and sharing anonymized threat intelligence at machine-speed ensuring that no participant’s sensitive data or identity ever leaves their environment. IronNet’s network detection and response (NDR) solution, IronDefense, uses behavioral analytics to detect unknown cyber threats on enterprise networks, while its IronDome solution shares anonymized threat data in real time within a secure ecosystem, providing other community members with a new level of visibility into potential incoming threats.
About IronNet
Founded in 2014 by GEN (Ret.) Keith Alexander, IronNet Cybersecurity is a global cybersecurity leader that is revolutionizing how organizations secure their networks by delivering the first-ever collective defense platform operating at scale. Employing a number of former NSA cybersecurity operators with offensive and defensive cyber experience, IronNet integrates deep tradecraft knowledge into its industry-leading products to solve the most challenging cyber problems facing the world today.
In March of 2021, IronNet and LGL Systems Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: DFNS) (“LGL”) announced that they entered into a definitive business combination agreement that will result in IronNet becoming a public company. Upon the closing of the transaction, the combined company will be named “IronNet, Inc.” and is expected to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and trade under the ticker symbol “IRNT.”
About Dragos, Inc.
Dragos has a global mission: to safeguard civilization from those trying to disrupt the industrial infrastructure we depend on every day. The practitioners who founded Dragos were drawn to this mission through decades of government and private sector experience.
Dragos codifies the knowledge of our cybersecurity experts into an integrated software platform that provides customers critical visibility into ICS and OT networks so that threats are identified and can be addressed before they become significant events. Our solutions protect organizations across a range of industries, including power and water utilities, energy, and manufacturing, and are optimized for emerging applications like the Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT). Dragos is privately held and headquartered in the Washington, DC area with regional presence around the world, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and the Middle East.
Important Information and Where to Find It
This press release relates to a proposed transaction between LGL Systems Acquisition Corp. (“LGL”) and IronNet Cybersecurity, Inc. (“IronNet”). LGL intends to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) a registration statement on Form S-4 that will include a proxy statement and prospectus of LGL. The proxy statement/prospectus will be mailed to stockholders of LGL as of a record date to be established for voting on the proposed business combination. LGL also will file other relevant documents from time to time regarding the proposed transaction with the SEC. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF LGL ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS AND OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS THAT WILL BE FILED BY LGL FROM TIME TO TIME WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. Investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the proxy statement/prospectus and other documents containing important information about LGL and IronNet once such documents are filed with the SEC, through the website maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov. Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by LGL when and if available, can be obtained free of charge on LGL’s website at https://www.dfns.ai or by directing a written request to LGL Systems Acquisition Corp., 165 Liberty St., Suite 220, Reno, NV 89501 or to info@dfnsi.ai.
Participants in the Solicitation
LGL and IronNet and their respective directors and executive officers, under SEC rules, may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies of LGL’s stockholders in connection with the proposed transaction. Investors and security holders may obtain more detailed information regarding the names and interests in the proposed transaction of LGL’s directors and officers in LGL’s filings with the SEC, including LGL’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, which was filed with the SEC on March 4, 2021 and amended by a Form 10-K/A filed with the SEC on May 11, 2021. Information regarding the persons who may, under SEC rules, be deemed participants in the solicitation of proxies to LGL’s stockholders in connection with the proposed business combination will be set forth in the proxy statement/prospectus for the proposed business combination when available. Additional information regarding the interests of participants in the solicitation of proxies in connection with the proposed business combination will be included in the proxy statement/prospectus that LGL intends to file with the SEC.
No Offer or Solicitation
This communication shall neither constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which the offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release includes “forward looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, without limitation, statements regarding IronNet’s business combination with LGL. When used in this Report, the words “estimates,” “projected,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “forecasts,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes,” “seeks,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “future,” “propose” and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements, including statements relating to IronNet’s future financial performance. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results, and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside LGL’s or IronNet’s management’s control, that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Important factors, among others, that may affect actual results or outcomes include: the inability to complete the transactions contemplated by the proposed business combination; the inability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the proposed business combination, which may be affected by, among other things, the amount of cash available following any redemptions by LGL stockholders; the ability to meet the NYSE’s listing standards following the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the proposed business combination; costs related to the proposed business combination; IronNet’s ability to execute on its plans to develop and market new products and the timing of these development programs; IronNet’s estimates of the size of the markets for its products; the rate and degree of market acceptance of IronNet’s products; the success of other competing technologies that may become available; IronNet’s ability to identify and integrate acquisitions; the performance of IronNet’s products; potential litigation involving LGL or IronNet; and general economic and market conditions impacting demand for IronNet’s products. Other factors include the possibility that the proposed transaction does not close, including due to the failure to receive required security holder approvals, or the failure of other closing conditions. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described in the “Risk Factors” section of LGL’s Annual Report on Form 10-K (as amended), Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, the registration statement on Form S-4 and proxy statement/prospectus discussed above and other documents filed by LGL from time to time with the SEC. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and neither LGL nor IronNet undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.