Third Brigade

About Third Brigade

Third Brigade, Inc. operated as a developer of security and compliance software, establishing a specific niche in server protection for dynamic data centers. The company was founded in 2004 by Wael Mohamed, who also held the positions of President and CEO. Headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, the firm focused on providing host-based intrusion defense systems designed to safeguard physical, virtual, and cloud computing environments.

The company's core business involved creating solutions to protect servers and corporate endpoints from sophisticated malware and other malicious activities. Its product suite offered capabilities such as intrusion detection and prevention, web application firewalling, application control, and detailed reporting and inspection tools. This technology was developed to address the security and compliance challenges faced by organizations utilizing virtualization in their data centers, including private and public clouds. Third Brigade's solutions were designed to be layered on top of existing content security technologies, providing an additional defense against zero-day threats.

Financially, Third Brigade attracted significant venture capital, raising over $16 million from investors including Summerhill Venture Partners, Celtic House Venture Partners, and BDC Venture Capital. A pivotal moment in the company's trajectory was its close collaboration with Trend Micro, a global leader in internet content security. This partnership began as an OEM agreement approximately 18 months prior to the acquisition, during which Third Brigade's technology was integrated into Trend Micro's OfficeScan product. This relationship culminated in Trend Micro announcing a definitive agreement to acquire Third Brigade in April 2009. The acquisition was a strategic move for Trend Micro to accelerate its own dynamic datacenter security strategy and expand its malware protection offerings. Following the acquisition, Third Brigade's office became the new headquarters for Trend Micro Canada Technologies, Inc.