IonQ to buy cybersecurity firm Elisity for up to $1.3bn in stock

The Maryland-based quantum computing company announced the deal on Monday. IonQ wants its security arm to guard against attacks aided by AI and, one day, quantum machines.

Founded in 2019, Elisity makes software that stops attackers and ransomware from moving through a company’s network. Hospitals and healthcare firms are among its main customers.

IonQ says Elisity has more than 100 customers using its tools, including a growing number of Fortune 500 firms. It says sales and the customer base doubled in a year, and none of those customers left.

Boss James Winebrenner will keep running the business. The deal should close by the end of the year, once regulators sign off.

“We will be well positioned to help customers protect critical infrastructure and enterprise networks throughout the transition to the quantum era,” IonQ chief executive Niccolo de Masi said. “Our customers need to prioritize post-quantum cryptography initiatives while securing existing assets,” Winebrenner said.

“We will be well positioned to help customers protect critical infrastructure and enterprise networks throughout the transition to the quantum era,” IonQ chief executive Niccolo de Masi said.

“Our customers need to prioritize post-quantum cryptography initiatives while securing existing assets,” Winebrenner said.

IonQ is the biggest listed firm that only does quantum. It is worth $16bn. It bought chipmaker SkyWater for $1.8bn in January and UK startup Oxford Ionics for $1.1bn last year.

Its security arm already sells tools built to resist quantum attacks. It has built quantum-safe national networks in Switzerland, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Future quantum machines could crack the codes that protect data online today.

Rivals are raising money on the stock market too. France’s Pasqal listed via a SPAC . IonQ is also among the firms in DARPA’s final test stage for useful quantum computers.

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