Rostelecom bought more security

RTK-Solar, owned by Rostelecom, bought New Security Technologies, a developer of systems for managing access rights to information systems. Thanks to this, the company expects to increase the revenue of the core business by 30% by the end of 2023. Market participants estimate the asset at the level of 1 billion rubles. According to experts, the developer will help Rostelecom strengthen the infrastructure of the Gosuslugi portal. They call the deal an example of consolidation in the information security market, believing that the trend will intensify.

RTK-Solar (a structure of Rostelecom, specializes in cybersecurity) acquired 100% of a software developer to improve the security of information systems and manage critical IT infrastructure “New Security Technologies” (NTB) from its founder through the controlled Solar PT LLC Mikhail Romanov. This was reported to Kommersant by the parties to the transaction. RTK-Solar expects that the consolidation of resources and technologies of the new asset will increase core revenue by 30% already in 2023. The amount of the transaction is not disclosed.

NTB, in particular, specializes in the development of PAM (Privileged Account Management) access control systems – they monitor and prevent unauthorized privileged access to critical resources, helping to protect against cyber threats. According to RTK-Solar, PAM class systems occupy up to 13% of the market for access control solutions, their sales are growing by 15% per year in money terms. The NTB expects that RTK-Solar’s investments will help “strengthen production capacities and expand sales channels.”

Products for access control of privileged users and single sign-on to information systems “logically complement the classic functionality of platforms for managing access rights and credentials” of RTK-Solar, says Denis Makrushin, technical director of the MTS cybersecurity unit.

NTB is a small company, based on its financial performance, the amount of the transaction could be 1.2–1.3 billion rubles, says Zecurion CEO Alexei Raevsky. Another source of “Kommersant” in the IT market says about 1 billion rubles. He considers the forecast of revenue growth due to the integration of NTBs too optimistic: “Implementation of access control systems usually takes a long time and is expensive, and customers are now allocating budgets, putting protection against external threats in the first place.”

Rostelecom acts as the operator of Gosuslug, and the purchase of a developer of access control systems may help strengthen the infrastructure of the state portal, says Moscow Digital School expert Vladislav Chukanov. At the end of December, information about a possible data leak of Gosuslug users once again appeared on the network, but the Ministry of Digital Transformation denied it.

The deal looks like an example of a trend towards the consolidation of the information security market, which will be strengthened by investments fueled by import substitution, says Avanpost CEO Andrey Konusov. The enlargement of the market is obvious, and now it is adapting to new conditions, Svetlana Gatsakova, director of DKIS ALP Group, agrees: “But this process may affect competition, it is important that it does not interfere with the emergence of new companies, and the IT market should support them, including number – at the level of specific projects.

Tatyana Isakova, Timofey Kornev