American cybersecurity giant Malwarebytes today launched ThreatDown, a new brand that encompasses its enterprise software portfolio and its B2B-focused unit, the company confirmed to TechCrunch.
Earlier this year, Malwarebytes laid off about 100 employees as part of a broader plan to separate the company into two separate business units, Malwarebytes CEO Marcin Kleczynski, who founded the company in 2008.
Kleczynski made this division official today with the launch of ThreatDown, formerly Malwarebytes for Business. The newly renamed business unit will focus on enterprise software, including managed and endpoint detection, while Malwarebytes will continue to focus on consumer tools, identity protection and its VPN, Kleczynski told TechCrunch ahead of the split.
Both the consumer-focused and corporate business units will operate under Malwarebytes’ executive team and Kleczynski’s leadership as CEO, he said.
“The company has evolved from its remediation roots, and this new brand and product portfolio reflects that evolution along with the changing threat landscape,” Kleczynski told TechCrunch. “The launch of ThreatDown formalizes the business unit focused on serving IT-constrained organizations and channel partners.”
“Operationally, this distinction allows employees to focus exclusively on the specific security challenges they are solving for each customer segment,” he added.
Kleczynski said the company does not plan to make any more layoffs as a result of formalizing the division, but noted that the move “changed our need for some high-level roles,” including chief technology officer. (A former Malwarebytes employee previously told TechCrunch that the company fired its chief technology officer, chief product officer, and chief information officer.)
Kleczynski said the company has no plans to hire new executive-level positions at this time. “We have senior leaders to lead our internal and external technology teams,” he said. “I also stepped in to lead the product organization, as I strongly believe that the company should be product-led.”
As he told TechCrunch in August, Kleczynski reiterated that Malwarebytes is not actively seeking the sale of any part of its business or additional financing following its $100 million investment last year from Vector Capital, a private equity firm that invests in established technology businesses.
Kleczynski said Malwarebytes remains “healthy and profitable.” The company has around 20,000 business customers.
“We are pleased with our partnership with Vector and are not proactively seeking additional funding,” Kleczynski said. “Right now, I am focused on bringing the new brand to market and continuing to develop the right technology and services to serve organizations with limited resources.”
