RSA Security LLC, formerly RSA Security, Inc. and trade name RSA, is an American computer and network security company with a focus on encryption and decryption standards. RSA was named after the initials of its co-founders, Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir and Leonard Adleman, after whom the RSA public key cryptography algorithm was also named. Among its products is the SecurID authentication token. The BSAFE cryptography libraries were also initially owned by RSA. RSA is known for incorporating backdoors developed by the NSA in its products. It previously organized the annual RSA Conference, an information security conference, until the company sold the conference to Crosspoint Capital, Clearlake Capital, and Symphony Technology Group in March 2022. Founded as an independent company in 1982, RSA Security was acquired by EMC Corporation in 2006 for US$2.1 billion and operated as a division within EMC. When EMC was acquired by Dell Technologies in 2016, RSA became part of the Dell Technologies family of brands. On 10 March 2020, Dell Technologies announced that they will be selling RSA Security to a consortium, led by Symphony Technology Group (STG), Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers’) and AlpInvest Partners (AlpInvest) for US$2.1 billion, the same price when it was bought by EMC back in 2006. RSA is based in Burlington, Massachusetts, with regional headquarters in Bracknell (UK) and Singapore, and numerous international offices.
History
Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir and Leonard Adleman, who developed the RSA encryption algorithm in 1977, founded RSA Data Security in 1982. The company acquired a "worldwide exclusive license" from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to a patent on the RSA cryptosystem technology granted in 1983.
In 1994, RSA was against the Clipper chip during the Crypto War. In 1995, RSA sent a handful of people across the hall to found Digital Certificates International, better known as VeriSign. The company then called Security Dynamics acquired RSA Data Security in July 1996 and DynaSoft AB in 1997. In January 1997, it proposed the first of the DES Challenges which led to the first public breaking of a message based on the Data Encryption Standard. In February 2001, it acquired Xcert International, Inc., a privately held company that developed and delivered digital certificate-based products for securing e-business transactions. In June 2001, it acquired 3-G International, Inc., a privately held company that developed and delivered smart card and biometric authentication products. In August 2001, it acquired Securant Technologies, Inc., a privately held company that produced ClearTrust, an identity management product. In December 2005, it acquired Cyota, a privately held Israeli company specializing in online security and anti-fraud solutions for financial institutions. In April 2006, it acquired PassMark Security. On September 14, 2006, RSA stockholders approved the acquisition of the company by EMC Corporation for $2.1 billion. In 2007, RSA acquired Valyd Software, a Hyderabad-based Indian company specializing in file and data security. In 2009, RSA launched the RSA Share Project. As part of this project, some of the RSA BSAFE libraries were made available for free. To promote the launch, RSA ran a programming competition with a US$10,000 first prize. In March 2011, RSA suffered a security breach and its most valuable secrets were leaked, compromising the security of all existing RSA SecurID tokens. In 2011, RSA introduced a new CyberCrime Intelligence Service designed to help organizations identify computers, information assets and identities compromised by trojans and other online attacks. In July 2013, RSA acquired Aveksa the leader in Identity and Access Governance sector On September 7, 2016, RSA was acquired by and became a subsidiary of Dell EMC Infrastructure Solutions Group through the acquisition of EMC Corporation by Dell Technologies in a cash and stock deal led by Michael Dell. On February 18, 2020, Dell Technologies announced their intention to sell RSA for $2.075 billion to Symphony Technology Group. In anticipation of the sale of RSA to Symphony Technology Group, Dell Technologies made the strategic decision to retain the BSAFE product line. To that end, RSA transferred BSAFE products (including the Data Protection Manager product) and customer agreements, including maintenance and support, to Dell Technologies on July 1, 2020. On September 1, 2020, Symphony Technology Group (STG) completed its acquisition of RSA from Dell Technologies. RSA became an independent company, one of the world’s largest cybersecurity and risk management organizations. In September 2025, Greg Nelson was appointed Chief Executive Officer of RSA, succeeding Rohit Ghai.
Controversy
SecurID security breach
On March 17, 2011, RSA disclosed an attack on its two-factor authentication products. The attack was similar to the Sykipot attacks, the July 2011 SK Communications hack, and the NightDragon series of attacks. RSA called it an advanced persistent threat. Today, SecurID is more commonly used as a software token rather than older physical tokens.
Relationship with NSA
RSA's relationship with the NSA has changed over the years. Reuters' Joseph Menn and cybersecurity analyst Jeffrey Carr have noted that the two once had an adversarial relationship. In its early years, RSA and its leaders were prominent advocates of strong cryptography for public use, while the NSA and the Bush and Clinton administrations sought to prevent its proliferation.
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