Absolute Security, which is a leading player in Autonomous Cyber Resilience, has successfully completed the acquisition of FirmGuard of Phoenix Technologies that is known for providing solutions for enterprise security with a focus on Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) BIOS firmware security, networking, and management.
This acquisition will benefit Absolute Persistence®, a patented technology from the company that is based on firmware and acts as the backbone of its Autonomous Cyber Resilience Platform. With FirmGuard technology, Absolute Security now has the capability of providing deep visibility, constant posture management, integrity validation, automatic patching, and adherence to compliance.
The combined platform uses an AI native firmware architecture that helps companies to combat new-age threats, avoid any kind of risk, maintain control of AI workflows, and prevent any deviation of agents.
Mitigating Below-the-OS Threats in the AI Era
There is increasing intelligence on a dramatic surge in hardware and firmware-based cyber attacks. Adding on to the challenge, 80% of IT and cybersecurity executives believe artificial intelligence will help to expedite vulnerability exploits. However, even when faced with such risks, 60% of the organizations procrastinate updating their firmware due to the fear of system disruption—known as “FOMU” (Fear of Making Updates).
Since firmware loads before the OS, it acts as a key choke point in terms of device recovery and control. As a result, cyber attackers have become adept at attacking the firmware level in order to exploit the vulnerabilities present and gain unauthorized and undetectable access to the devices. Secure firmware has now moved from being just a maintenance activity to a must-do task for CISOs.
Also Read: Cisco Unveils Agentic Collaboration Updates for Webex, Workplaces and Customer Experience
Scaled Infrastructure and Ecosystem Integration
Through long-standing partnerships with OEMs all over the world, including Dell, HP, and Lenovo, Absolute Security is built into the firmware of over 600 million endpoints. It ensures that there is an immovable link below the OS level that allows enterprise IT administrators to protect, manage, and repair applications and hardware at boot level, even in the event of an OS crash or corruption.
Additionally, Absolute Security continues to extend its cyber resilience capabilities across specialized computing architectures through technology collaborations with leaders such as NVIDIA and HP, safeguarding high-performance AI workstations and autonomous agent environments.
Commenting on the acquisition and market vision, Christy Wyatt, President & CEO of Absolute Security, stated: “AI-driven threats and fragility are disrupting enterprises from the cloud to the endpoint. Full resilience requires visibility, control, security, and recovery capabilities in the device hardware — a unique and exclusive location only Absolute occupies. For more than 30 years, we have led the market in helping customers withstand cyberattacks and IT failures and recover from operational breakdowns. Our strengthened platform will help security and risk leaders confidently accelerate and protect AI initiatives against threats, complexity, and downtime.”
Unified Firmware Management and Key Integration Phases
By integrating FirmGuard’s specialized UEFI management technology, Absolute Security offers a consolidated platform delivering end-to-end device protection and continuous recovery from the initial moment a machine powers on.
In the initial integration phase, enterprise customers will gain access to:
- Below-the-OS Management Expansion: Increased capabilities for management that operates independently of the operating system.
- Firmware Integrity and Patching Automation: Non-disruptive monitoring and fixing of vulnerabilities in firmware.
- Improved Data Sanitization: Expanded processes for data wiping during compliance-based and remote removals of devices.
- Management Console Consolidation: One platform providing full visibility from firmware level to the cloud.
Highlighting the strategic alignment between the two technology stacks, Gerard Moore, President & CEO of FirmGuard, noted: “We built FirmGuard to make firmware protection simple and secure. Absolute has proven its firmware-embedded platform can do this at enterprise scale. With FirmGuard integrated into Absolute, customers can remain confident their AI devices will stay secure, compliant, and running, so when something goes wrong, downtime will not become a business loss.”
Financial advisory services for FirmGuard during the acquisition transaction were exclusively provided by Boston Meridian Partners.