BlackSpider Technologies Limited

BlackSpider Technologies Limited was a British software company founded in 2002 and subsequently acquired by SurfControl in July 2006.

BlackSpider Technologies Limited

Industry	software
Founded	2002
Founder	John Cheney
Successor	SurfControl (July 2006)
Headquarters	Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom
Services	cloud computing services: * email spam * malware

The Company provided cloud computing services for filtering email spam and other malware.^[citation needed]

History

BlackSpider was a start-up company founded in 2002 by John Cheney[1] in Reading, Berkshire, UK.

In January 2004 Casenove Private Equity invested £4.6m ($6.6m) in the business,[2] allowing the organisation to grow into the French and German markets.

In July 2006 SurfControl, a UK listed PLC, acquired BlackSpider for £19.5m in cash.[3]

At the point of acquisition BlackSpider had £4m in historic revenues, an operating loss of £3.1m and over 1,200 customers.[4]

In October 2007 Websense acquired SurfControl for approximately £204m.[5]

Following the acquisition of SurfControl by Websense, the original BlackSpider Management Team, including John Cheney, left to found Workbooks.com, a provider of web-based CRM software for small businesses.[6]

Products

MailControl was the brand name for BlackSpider Technologies email filtering services. These products are now sold by Forcepoint under the brand name Hosted Email Security.[7]

Notes

1. "Bloomberg Business Week". Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
2. Ruth Bojer (7 January 2004). "BlackSpider secures €6.6 million investment". Tornado Insider. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
3. John Leyden (23 July 2006). "SurfControl Snaps Up Blackspider". The Register. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
4. Will Sturgeon (13 July 2006). "SurfControl Catches Blackspider". Silicon.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
5. "Websense Completes Acquisition of SurfControl". Websense. 3 October 2007. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
6. "Workbooks.com Management Team". Workbooks.com. Archived from the original on 19 April 2010. Retrieved 25 August 2010.
7. "Hosted Email Security". Websense. Retrieved 22 August 2010.

External links

• Companies House, UK Company Number: 04447164
• Insider Article – 7 January 2004
• Silicon Article Surfcontrol Catches Blackspider – 16 July 2006
• John Layden, The Register – 13 July 2006
• Websense Investor Release – 3 October 2007