Trustwave
AcquiredChicago, US Β· 8 known investors
Trustwave (operating as LevelBlue) is a managed security services provider offering 24/7 threat detection, investigation, response, and cloud security services for enterprises. The company combines managed security operations, incident response, cyber advisory, and threat intelligence to protect organizations' hybrid environments.
Also known as LevelBlue Β· Trustwave Holdings Β· Trustwave Holdings, Inc.
Founders & leadership
Board
Investors Β· 8
Reported raises Β· per SEC filings
Form D private placements$25.5M disclosed across 1 of 2 rounds Β· 2012β2014
βΆ$25.5MraisedMar 2014 Β· 19 investors Β· Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
- ROBERT J MCCULLENExecutive Officer, Director
- WILLIAM BERTRANDDirector
- LEO COLEExecutive Officer
- RICHARD KIPHARTDirector
- HOWARD SMITHDirector
- TIMOTHY NICHOLSONDirector
- WALTER HOSPDirector
- JOSEPH PATANELLADirector
- PHIL J SMITHExecutive Officer
- MICHAEL BARTLETExecutive Officer
- STUART HARVEYDirector
- ANDREW BOKORExecutive Officer, Director
- RICHARD GARMANDirector
- DOUGLAS KLOTNIAExecutive Officer
- KEVIN BRADFORDDirector
- RUTH ANN MARSHALLDirector
- J LAWRENCE PODMOLIKExecutive Officer
- ANNABEL LEWISExecutive Officer
- WILLIAM G BARKERExecutive Officer
- Offering amount
- $27.5M
- Amount sold
- $25.5M
- First sale
- Mar 2014
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
βΆUndisclosed amountofferedMar 2012 Β· 23 investors Β· Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
- Richard GarmanDirector
- Tim NicholsonDirector
- Mark IserlothExecutive Officer
- Howard SmithDirector
- Stuart HarveyDirector
- Andrew BokorExecutive Officer
- Joseph PatanellaDirector
- Robert J McCullenExecutive Officer
- David ParkinsonExecutive Officer
- Richard KiphartDirector
- Doug KlotniaExecutive Officer
- James KunkelExecutive Officer
- J. Lawrence PodmolikExecutive Officer
- Kevin BradfordDirector
- Justin C. ChoiExecutive Officer
- First sale
- Mar 2012
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06
Source: SEC EDGAR Form D. Amounts as filed; amended filings shown once at their latest values.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Trustwave Holdings, Inc. is an American cybersecurity company headquartered in downtown Chicago that provides managed detection and response (MDR), managed security services (MSS), database security and email security to organizations worldwide. Its portfolio also spans managed cloud security, managed network security, incident readiness and response, cyber advisory, exposure management, penetration testing and security operations platforms. The company serves customers in 96 countries and maintains international offices in London, SΓ£o Paulo and Sydney, along with security operations centers in Chicago, Denver, Manila, Minneapolis, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Warsaw and Waterloo, Ontario.
Trustwave's research and services arm, SpiderLabs, comprises security consultants, threat hunters, incident responders, forensic investigators and researchers who publish threat research and support client engagements. Trustwave's MDR is delivered through its Fusion Security Operations Platform, and the company has historically offered the TrustKeeper cloud platform for automated threat, vulnerability and compliance management. Following the August 2025 acquisition by LevelBlue, Trustwave's capabilities were combined with LevelBlue's network security, risk management and threat intelligence assets, including the OTX open threat-sharing platform and LevelBlue Labs, under a combined entity described as the world's largest pure-play MSSP.
Business model
Trustwave sells subscription-based managed security services and professional services β including managed detection and response, managed security services, cloud and network security management, incident response, penetration testing and cyber advisory β to enterprise and government clients, historically supported by cloud platforms such as TrustKeeper and the Fusion Security Operations Platform.
Revenue derives from recurring managed security service contracts and related consulting and testing engagements; annual recurring revenue was estimated at approximately $322.4 million in 2023 by IT-Harvest, and reported revenue was $216 million in 2014.
Traction
Trustwave reported more than 1,600 employees on its website, with headcount measured at 1,273 in September 2023 (down from 1,518 in April 2021), customers in 96 countries and more than three million businesses enrolled in the TrustKeeper platform. The combined LevelBlue organization cites a team of 1,000+ security consultants and researchers, more than 100 million indicators submitted to OTX annually, 2,000+ penetration tests delivered annually and 60 million suspicious URLs, files and artifacts analyzed monthly.
Latest developments
LevelBlue completed its acquisition of Trustwave on August 19, 2025, integrating Trustwave's MDR, Fusion Security Operations Platform, offensive security and SpiderLabs threat intelligence with LevelBlue's services; financial terms were not disclosed. The deal followed LevelBlue's acquisition of Aon's Cybersecurity and IP Litigation consulting groups, including Stroz Friedberg and Elysium Digital. Earlier in 2025, Trustwave achieved full authorized status under both FedRAMP and StateRAMP. The combined company has been named a Major Player in the 2026 IDC Worldwide Enterprise MDR/MXDR assessment, cited in the 2026 Gartner Market Guide for Outsourced MSS, and designated a premier remediation partner for SentinelOne Wayfinder Frontier AI Services.
βΈFull profile β market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Trustwave has been recognized by industry analysts in managed security services and MDR, including Forrester's July 2020 Wave for global managed security service providers, where it was ranked behind only IBM Security Services. Following its combination with LevelBlue, the company is positioned as part of the largest independent pure-play MSSP globally.
Trustwave combines offensive and defensive security capabilities β MDR delivered on the Fusion Security Operations Platform, penetration testing, database and email security, and the SpiderLabs research and threat-hunting team β with FedRAMP and StateRAMP full authorization, described as the first cybersecurity pure-play provider to hold both. Forrester noted differentiation in presenting actionable information in alerts and working across many cloud infrastructure types, while citing gaps in remediation support and thoroughness.
Technology
Trustwave delivers MDR through the Fusion Security Operations Platform and has operated the TrustKeeper cloud platform for threat, vulnerability and compliance management. It also runs an X.509 certificate authority used as a trusted root CA. Post-acquisition, its detection logic and SpiderLabs research are combined with LevelBlue Labs and the OTX threat-sharing platform, with support for 360+ telemetry sources.
Go-to-market
The company sells directly to enterprise and government buyers and through partnerships with cybersecurity technology vendors, supported by RFP submission, demo requests, free trials, training and certification programs, and analyst-recognized positioning.
Enterprises and government organizations across banking/insurance/finance, e-commerce and retail, education, healthcare and life sciences, and federal, state and local government, including the U.S. Department of Defense and the Defense Industrial Base.
Geography
Global headquarters in Chicago (70 W. Madison St.), with regional headquarters in London (EMEA), SΓ£o Paulo (Latin America) and Sydney (Asia-Pacific), customers in 96 countries, and security operations centers in Chicago, Denver, Manila, Minneapolis, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Warsaw and Waterloo, Ontario. As of 2023, more than 60% of staff were based in the U.S., with roughly 20% in Australia, 9% in the U.K., 7% in Canada and the remainder in Israel, India and Germany.
History
Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Chicago, Trustwave filed for an IPO in April 2011 but withdrew the application in May 2014, citing unfavorable market conditions. In April 2015, Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) agreed to acquire a 98% stake for $810 million, with 2% retained by Trustwave's CEO and president; the enterprise value was reported at $850 million. Singtel took a $250 million non-cash impairment charge on the investment in May 2021 and began a strategic review. In October 2021, Trustwave sold its PCI compliance business (SecureTrust and FLEX divisions) to Sysnet Global Systems for $80 million to concentrate on MDR and MSS. In October 2023, The Chertoff Group's private equity affiliate MC2 Security Fund agreed to buy Trustwave from Singtel for $205 million, completing the deal in January 2024. LevelBlue β formerly AT&T Cybersecurity, spun out as a standalone business in May 2024 β completed its acquisition of Trustwave on August 19, 2025.
Risks & controversies
In 2011, Trustwave sold a subordinate certificate authority certificate that allowed a customer to issue SSL certificates identifying as arbitrary entities, a mechanism comparable to a man-in-the-middle interception; the use of a publicly valid subordinate CA drew criticism over abuse risk. In March 2014, Trustmark National Bank and Green Bank N.A. named Trustwave in a lawsuit alleging it failed to provide the promised level of security to Target and to meet industry security standards; both plaintiffs filed a notice of dismissal in April 2014. Under Singtel ownership the business lost close to three-quarters of its value between 2015 and 2023, with a $250 million impairment charge in 2021 and headcount reductions during the subsequent strategic review.
Compiled by commissioned research from 6 cited public sources β announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed β not independently audited.
Competitors Β· 5
by search overlap
Companies competing with Trustwave for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline Β· 13
launches, deals, and filingsLevelBlue was named a Major Player in the 2026 IDC Worldwide Enterprise MDR/MXDR assessment and was included in the 2026 Gartner Market Guide for Outsourced MSS and the 2026 Gartner guide for Incident Response Retainer Services.
LevelBlue was named a premier remediation partner for SentinelOne Wayfinder Frontier AI Services.
LevelBlue, the Dallas-based managed security services company formerly known as AT&T Cybersecurity, completed its acquisition of Trustwave, forming what the companies describe as the world's largest pure-play MSSP. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Trustwave became what LevelBlue describes as the first and only cybersecurity pure-play provider to achieve full authorized status under both the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program and StateRAMP.
MC2 Security Fund, the private equity affiliate of The Chertoff Group, agreed in October 2023 to purchase Trustwave from Singtel for $205 million and completed the acquisition, announced in January 2024.
$205M source β
Trustwave divested its legacy payment card industry compliance business, including the SecureTrust and FLEX divisions, to Sysnet Global Systems for $80 million in order to focus on managed detection and response and managed security services.
$80M source β
Singtel recorded a $250 million non-cash impairment charge against its investment in Trustwave and initiated a strategic review, citing COVID-19-related economic shocks affecting Trustwave's ability to scale.
$250M source β
Trustwave SpiderLabs disclosed two severe vulnerabilities in SolarWinds Orion, one of which could have allowed complete remote control of a targeted system; patches were released January 25 and customers were urged to update immediately.
Forrester recognized Trustwave as a leader in its July 2020 Wave for global managed security service providers, ranked behind only IBM Security Services.
Trustwave SpiderLabs discovered a malware family named GoldenSpy embedded in Chinese tax payment software required for corporations to conduct business operations in China; the FBI subsequently warned companies in the healthcare, chemical and finance industries.
Trustwave opened its first Canadian security operations centre in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario.
Singapore Telecommunications entered a definitive agreement to acquire Trustwave Holdings for $810 million, taking a 98% stake with 2% retained by Trustwave's CEO and president; the reported enterprise value was $850 million. The transaction was completed in August 2015, with Singtel acquiring the stake from Argentum for a reported $770 million.
$810M source β
Trustwave Holdings filed for an initial public offering in April 2011 but never completed the process, withdrawing its application in May 2014 citing unfavorable market conditions.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
βΈResearch sources Β· 6
primary sources listed
- Trustwavetrustwave.com Β· web
6 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Trustwave do?
- Chicago-based managed security services provider delivering MDR, managed security, and threat intelligence; now a LevelBlue subsidiary.
- Who founded Trustwave?
- Trustwave was founded by Andrew Bokor, Robert J McCullen.
- Who are Trustwave's investors?
- Trustwave's investors include Bright Pixel Capital, FTV Capital, JMI Equity, Paladin Capital Group, Partners for Growth, Partners for Growth (PFG), The Argentum Group, Updata Partners.
- How much funding has Trustwave raised?
- Trustwave has disclosed $25.5M raised across 1 of its 2 known rounds.
- Where is Trustwave headquartered?
- Trustwave is headquartered in Chicago, US.