Two weeks after inking a $1.6 billion deal for digital ad exchange operator AppNexus Inc., AT&T Inc. today announced yet another technology acquisition.

The carrier has entered an agreement to buy AlienVault Inc., a San Mateo, California-based threat detection provider. AT&T didn’t disclose the price tag, but the financial details already out there about AlienVault provide a frame of reference. It has raised $118 million from investors and was valued at $430 million in 2015, according to PitchBook.

AlienVault was entertaining the prospect of an initial public offering before the deal, with Chief Executive Officer Barmak Meftah saying in a 2017 interview that preparations were being made for an IPO. Instead of hitting the stock market, the company will now be absorbed into AT&T to bolster the carrier’s managed security services business.

AlienVault brings field-tested technology to the table. The company’s flagship offering, USM Anywhere, is designed to find security gaps and intrusions in different kinds of environments ranging from on-premise infrastructure to cloud deployments. It also can integrate with other network protection tools to import data about potential threats or export instructions on how to handle a breach.

The provider’s other core offering is AlienVault Open Threat Exchange, a platform where security researchers share information about hacker activity. Companies can subscribe to receive notifications whenever experts discover a threat that could pose a risk to their systems.

AT&T said it plans to continue investing in USM Anywhere and the Open Threat Exchange following the acquisition. On top of AlienVault’s technology, the carrier also stands to gain a fairly sizable user base spread out a over a wide array of segments. PwC LLP, the U.S. Air Force and Domino’s Pizza Inc. are among the organizations that use the provider’s security products.

AT&T indicated in the acquisition announcement that one of its priorities will be making AlienVault’s capabilities available for small businesses. Thaddeus Arroyo, the head of AT&T’s business solutions division, underscored that goal in a statement.

“Regardless of size or industry, businesses today need cyber threat detection and response technologies and services,” Arroyo said. “The current threat landscape has shifted this from a luxury for some, to a requirement for all.”

AT&T expects to complete the acquisition later this quarter.

Photo: AT&T