Rooting Out Internet Spies

An “overnight” success can be several years in the making. In 1998, two college graduates chanced upon a lucrative opportunity in the Internet security marketing. Webroot Software began without a business or marketing plan, and with little foresight.

Today, it is the largest private company in the multi-billion dollar computer security market. Webroot’s product, Spy Sweeper, is the global leader in anti-spyware software for personal computers. On average, companies spend $1 billion a year to protect their PCs, and, today, spyware poses the most potent threat to PC security.

In February 2005, Mayfield Fund participated in a $108 million round of investment. With Mayfield’s help, Webroot assembled a talented and experienced management team to harness the company’s growth and potential. In January, Webroot recruited Peter Watkins, a highly respected security industry veteran with extensive operational experience (including a post as president and chief operating officer of McAfee) to be chief executive.

Watkins and his team have focused the company’s resources on Spy Sweeper. Spyware had eclipsed viruses as a hacker’s preferred method of attack and is a risk to both consumers and businesses. Spyware collects data by surreptitiously logging keystrokes, tracking Web activity and scanning hard drives. Stolen data can then be sold or otherwise used for illicit gain.

More than 10 million people use Webroot’s Spy Sweeper to protect their PCs. Spy Sweeper continues to grow its ecosystem of distributors, including value-added resellers and big-box retailers, and it sells briskly online.

Now, Watkins is expanding Webroot’s product catalogue. “Having established a strong position and reputation in the anti-spyware market, we have achieved the size and resources to embark on an aggressive strategy to expand Webroot’s portfolio of products and services and become a full-fledged security provider,” he says. “Being a trusted supplier and an industry-leader, we can now bring new products and services to market quickly and with authority.”

Webroot has recently added anti-virus capabilities to Spy Sweeper, introduced a parental control product, Child Safe and has beefed up its service and support offerings. It keeps a sharp on the latest threats to PC users from data theft and online fraud.

“In the near future, we will be taking a greater responsibility in protecting users so they can do what they want – exchange information, conduct business or even download music – securely and safely,” Watkins says.

Even as it expands, Webroot continues to exceed company sales and profit records. “Even though they are private, a company their size puts them on the radar of the big guys in the industry,” says Mayfield Managing Director Robin Vasan. Chief Executive Watkins is confidant that Spy Sweeper can maintain its two-year technological lead over market giants like McAfee, Symantec and Microsoft.