Fenix24 Buys vArmour IP to Boost Cyber Resilience, Recovery

Fenix24 bought the intellectual property of a disbanded application relationship management vendor to enhance its incident response and cybersecurity resiliency capabilities.

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The Chattanooga, Tenn.-based cyber disaster recovery firm said its purchase of Silicon Valley-based vArmour’s visualization and dependency mapping tools will improve both “peacetime” preparation as well as “wartime” recovery from cyberattacks, according to CEO Mark Grazman. He said Fenix24’s unique approach joins software and services to address the gaps in cybersecurity recovery planning.

“vArmour had a tough ride,” Grazman told Information Security Media Group. “Eventually, we came to understand that there was a discounted sale happening, and we participated in a competitive process in order to acquire.”

Why vArmour Ended Up on the Chopping Block

vArmour, founded in 2011, raised $185 million across six rounds of outside funding. The firm was led for more than nine years by Timothy Eades, who will join Fenix24’s advisory board. Eades left the CEO post in December 2022, and the company was acquired by NightDragon in April 2023, with veteran Dimension Data executive Matt Gyde taking over as CEO. Gyde departed from vArmour in August 2024 (see: Tim Eades of vArmour on Expanding From Banking to Government).

Given that vArmour disbanded after Gyde’s exit due to financial difficulties, Grazman said Fenix24’s buy focused on the company’s intellectual property and source code rather than the vArmour team and customer contracts. The acquisition process was managed by an appointed agent to sell vArmour’s assets. Fenix24 plans to bring back some former vArmour employees who align with Fenix24’s vision.

“The vArmour team disbanded, so we didn’t acquire the team or the client contracts,” Grazman said. “It’s the intellectual property, the source code, everything there. We are bringing a number of folks back, and one or two of our team members, just because of our network, had previously been vArmour employees. So, we will bring some of the band back together. How many? I’m not entirely sure yet.”

Fenix24 wants to stand up vArmour’s software for the company’s former customers within 90 days and leverage the company’s visualization and application dependency mapping capabilities for its incident response and recovery services, Grazman said. vArmour’s capabilities will enable faster recovery from cyberattacks, reduce downtime and boost infrastructure resiliency for pre- and post-breach scenarios.

“Having the power of vArmour along with Argos99 will allow us to not just ask the client what they know about their environment, because often they don’t have full visibility,” Grazman said. “They don’t understand the application tendencies. So, our ability to take action on those visualizations where vArmour was involved would give the client an opportunity to leverage that.”

Why Application Dependency Mapping Is So Important

Many companies lack a clear understanding of their application dependencies, which Grazman said hampers recovery efforts during incidents. vArmour’s tools address this gap by providing detailed dependency mapping and visualization, enabling faster recovery and more resilient architectures. This is particularly valuable in situations like ransomware attacks where recovery speed is critical, he said.

“Most companies do not have a good plan that’s realistic for how they will recover, because they don’t get a compliance manual, the real story of what the threat actors are doing today that impedes recoverability,” Grazman said. “So we get involved in peace time through an assessment practice, and we bring the knowledge of, ‘What are the bad guys doing right now?'”

vArmour’s dependency mapping technology bridges the preparation and recovery phrases, which will enable Fenix24 to reduce recovery time and improve overall resilience. The firm prepares for potential incidents by assessing risks, mapping dependencies and building resilient architectures, and from a recovery standpoint focuses on identifying which systems and applications need to be restored first.

“Whether it’s something that allows them to take money from customers or run their manufacturing or their inventory systems, they don’t know all the dependencies,” Grazman said. “To bring that application up may require a database over on this server, or an identity solution in this location. It often sets clients back in terms of the pace at which we can recover in a breach, because it’s a little bit of, ‘Let’s try this.'”

Grazman said Fenix24 is measuring the success of the vArmour deal by its ability to improve recovery times, enhance customer resiliency, and integrate the company’s tools into its broader ecosystem. Fenix24’s extensive due diligence and firsthand experience with vArmour’s capabilities give Grazman confidence in the acquisition.

“Our measure of success is, ‘Can this make our customers more resilient? Can it speed up our recovery services?’ Grazman said. “We already know that it can be part of our diligence and our analysis and preparation. And this is not the first introduction we’ve had to vArmour. We’ve know it.”