IBM (IBM) has acquired Lighthouse Security Group, a Lincoln, Rhode Island-based managed security service provider (MSSP). Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Latha Maripuri, director of IBM Security Services, told MSPmentor the acquisition will allow her company to better address its customers’ IT security needs.

“We’re seeing the next generation of managed services as we move beyond the network into business applications,” she said. “There’s a shift in focus from traditional IT infrastructure to security infrastructure as well, and this acquisition allows us to address different use cases.”

Lighthouse Security Group offers Lighthouse Gateway, an identity management solution that will be integrated into IBM’s managed security services offering.

Lighthouse Gateway is designed to make it easier for businesses to protect corporate data and prevent identity theft by ensuring only authorized personnel can access sensitive corporate information, IBM said.

“With this acquisition, IBM provides a unique identity and access management offering that combines proven software and analytics technology with expert managed services that make it easy for businesses to tackle the complexities of security in this new digital world,” Kris Lovejoy, general manager of IBM Security Services, said in a prepared statement.

What does Lighthouse Gateway offer IBM customers?

Lighthouse Gateway protects identity and data in an increasingly complex IT environment where more company information is being stored in the cloud and accessed from mobile devices, according to IBM.

The platform delivers a full suite of functionality based on IBM Security Identity and Access Management capabilities, including:

IBM also noted customers can deploy and use Lighthouse Gateway from a secure, hosted environment, which helps reduce the cost of digital identity management.

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