Fortra. Fortra is an American cybersecurity company based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The company was founded as Help/38 in 1982, rebranded as HelpSystems in 1988, and became Fortra in 2022. Fortra is owned by private equity firms TA Associates, Harvest Partners, Charlesbank Capital Partners, and HGGC.

History 

Help/38 was founded in 1982 by Dick Jacobson. Help/38's first product, Robot/38, provided IT automation for the IBM System/38. In 1988, when IBM replaced the System/38 with the AS/400, the company became known as HelpSystems (sometimes stylized as Help/Systems).

In 1992, HelpSystems became the first software company in the United States to be certified under the ISO 9001 standard.

Between 2005 and 2018, HelpSystems experienced growth and multiple changes in ownership. Acquired by Summit Partners in 2005 and Audax Group in 2007, the company expanded its offerings through the acquisition of several software firms. Summit Partners repurchased a majority stake in 2012, followed by a series of acquisitions including Safestone, CCSS, and IBM's ShowCase business intelligence products.

H.I.G. Capital acquired the company in 2015. Subsequent additions of Tango/04 Computing Group, Linoma Software, and TeamQuest added real-time monitoring, secure file transfer, and IT service optimization solutions to HelpSystems' offerings. In 2018, private equity firm HGGC became the lead investor, and HelpSystems acquired Midrange Performance Group.

HelpSystems further expanded its cybersecurity capabilities in 2019 through the acquisition of Core Security and UK-based Clearswift. TA Associates and Charlesbank Capital Partners also became investors. In 2020, the company expanded further by acquiring data classification firms Titus and Boldon James. HelpSystems released a report on COVID-19's impact on financial services firms' cybersecurity, and acquired cloud-based data protection provider Vera.

In 2021, HelpSystems acquired several companies to expand its cybersecurity and data protection services, including FileCatalyst, Digital Defense, Beyond Security, Agari, PhishLabs, and Digital Guardian. During this time, private equity firm Harvest Partners SCF LP also acquired partial ownership in HelpSystems. A 2021 report from PhishLabs by HelpSystems showed that social media attacks had doubled that year, with financial institutions being the most targeted sector.

In 2022, HelpSystems expanded its portfolio with the acquisitions of Tripwire, Alert Logic, Terranova Security, and Outflank. These acquisitions extended Fortra's cybersecurity capabilities, adding solutions for IT security compliance, cloud-based security, security awareness training, and advanced threat detection respectively. In October of that year, PhishLabs by HelpSystems identified a weakness in Google Ads being used by attackers to target financial institutions. HelpSystems rebranded as Fortra in November 2022.

In 2023, Fortra collaborated with Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit and Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center to combat the abuse of cracked, legacy copies of their Cobalt Strike software by cybercriminals for distributing malware, including ransomware. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York authorized the disruption of malicious infrastructure, enabling relevant ISPs and CERTs to take it offline.

In July 2024, Fortra collaborated with Europol in "Operation Morpheus" to dismantle nearly 600 IP addresses associated with the criminal use of Cobalt Strike. This effort, involving 27 countries and private sector partners, significantly enhanced global cybersecurity by mitigating the misuse of Fortra's software for malicious activities.

Products and services 

Fortra categorizes its cybersecurity and automation products into the following areas:

Data protection 

Fortra's data protection solutions focus on protecting sensitive information from unauthorized access and data breaches. Digital Guardian offers data loss prevention (DLP) and secure collaboration. Fortra's Data Classification Suite, previously known as Titus and Boldon James, specializes in data classification and security, ensuring that data is appropriately marked and handled.

Infrastructure protection 

Fortra's infrastructure protection segment includes Cobalt Strike, Outflank, Core Security, Digital Defense, and Beyond Security, which offer tools and services for penetration testing, vulnerability management, fuzz testing, and red teaming.

Digital risk and email security 

Agari's email security solutions protect organizations from phishing and email-based attacks. PhishLabs provides digital risk protection services, including threat intelligence and anti-phishing capabilities. Clearswift specializes in content inspection and data loss prevention.

Security awareness training 

Terranova Security offers security awareness training, equipping employees with the knowledge to recognize and prevent cybersecurity threats. This training is intended to build a human firewall against cyber attacks.

Managed security services 

Fortra's managed security services provide security monitoring and management. Alert Logic delivers cloud-based managed detection and response (MDR), extended detection and response (XDR), and managed web application firewall (WAF). Tripwire's managed services focus on maintaining IT system file integrity and compliance. Digital Guardian provides managed data loss prevention (DLP) and PhishLabs offers managed digital risk protection.

Secure file transfer 

GoAnywhere MFT provides encrypted file transfer capabilities, aligning with various regulatory standards like PCI DSS and HIPAA. The system features audit trails and automated workflows, accessible through a browser-based interface.

References

External links
 Official website
Software companies based in Minnesota
Software companies of the United States
Technology companies established in 1982
1982 establishments in Minnesota
Computer security companies
Companies based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota