Shakeups Abound at Security Firms

SonicWall Inc. and Certicom Corp., Tuesday announced major layoffs and corporate restructurings, continuing a trend that has seen several major security vendors reshuffle their organizations in recent weeks.

SonicWall, a Sunnyvale, Calif., provider of virtual private network and firewall appliances, plans to eliminate as much as 20 percent of its workforce and will take a charge of $2 million to $4 million as a result of the restructuring. The company will also consolidate some of its offices and eliminate “duplicate resources resulting from recent acquisitions,” according to officials.

In the last 18 months, SonicWall has acquired Phobus Corp., a maker of SSL security products, and Ignyte Technology Inc., a consulting and technical support firm.

The company also announced several new executive appointments, including new vice presidents of sales, research and development, marketing, professional services and human resources.

Certicom, meanwhile, will not only layoff 30 of its workers, but will also relocate its headquarters to Toronto. The company, which is currently based in Mississauga, Ontario, specializes in wireless security products.

Certicom executives hope that the moves will help the company become profitable by the second quarter of 2003, the company said in a statement.

The announcements by SonicWall and Certicom come less than a week after RSA Security Inc., one of the oldest companies in the data security industry, slashed 200 jobs and announced a corporate restructuring.

And Computer Associates International Inc., last week also shuffled its lineup, consolidating its products into five brand units and placing co-founder and Executive Vice President Russ Artzt in charge of the security unit.