Security Vendor WatchGuard CEO Abruptly Exits

Unified threat management (UTM) provider WatchGuard said Joe Wang, the Seattle-based company’s chief executive since 2007, has stepped down and has been replaced by Michael Kohlsdorf on an interim basis while its board of directors conducts a search for a permanent boss.

A company spokesperson said the search for a new CEO is expected to take about two months. Wang provided no reason for his abrupt departure.

Kohlsdorf is an executive with Francisco Partners, a private equity firm that holds a position in WatchGuard. Kohlsdorf is a 25-year veteran of executive and top management posts, previously serving as chief executive and holding a seat on the board at Cross Match Technologies, filling similar roles at Aderant and as IKON Office Solutions’ senior vice president of Enterprise Services.

"Under the leadership of Joe Wang, WatchGuard has risen to be a leader in Gartner's Unified Threat Management Magic Quadrant four years in a row,” said Alex Slusky, a WatchGuard board member. “He has led the charge to introduce new technologies onto the company's security platforms, including a data visualization tool called WatchGuard Dimension, and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) and Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) services."

Slusky said WatchGuard appreciates “Joe's years of contribution to WatchGuard. Network security continues to be a dynamic, fast-growing market and Mike will ensure, through this transitional period, that WatchGuard continues to deliver innovative technology that helps organizations secure their networks."

WatchGuard competes for network security SMB sales against Check Point Software, Cisco Systems (CSCO), Sophos, Dell SonicWall and Fortinet (FTNT). The company licenses technology from a variety of security developers, including Kaspersky, McAfee, Sophos, Symantec (SYMC) and Websense.

In April, the vendor introduced WatchGuard APT Blocker, which identifies and submits suspicious files to a cloud-based, next-generation sandbox, using a full-system-emulation environment for detecting APTs and zero day malware. The solution integrates with WatchGuard Dimension to provide a single view of advanced threats, along with other top trends, applications and threats. APT Blocker comes pre-installed on all WatchGuard UTM and Next-Gen Firewall (NGFW) appliances with a free 30-day trial.