The deal will help the defense and aerospace contractor defend against sophisticated threats facing customers, Raytheon says Defense and aerospace systems vendor Raytheon has acquired cybersecurity vendor Pikewerks in an effort to add to Raytheon’s capabilities to defend against sophisticated threats facing customers in the intelligence, defense and commercial sectors, the companies announced Monday.Raytheon did not disclose the terms, but the company said the deal would not “materially” impact its company sales or earnings per share in the fourth quarter of 2011 or fiscal year 2012. This is the ninth cybersecurity-related acquisition Raytheon has made since 2007.Among Pikewerks’ products are Electronic Armor, an anti-exploitation software tool that protects executable files, and Second Look, a software capability for live forensic analysis of operating systems. Pikewerks, based in Madison, Alabama, also has several kernel-level engineers focused on the Linux operating system, Raytheon said in a press release.Pikewerks’ founder and President Sandy Ring and CEO Michael Ring will remain with the company, Raytheon said. Pikewerks has announced U.S. Army and Air Force contracts in recent months. In September, the company announced that the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) had extended funding for Pikewerks’ work on the agency’s Dark Droid project, an effort to improve security in the Android mobile operating system.Grant Gross covers technology and telecom policy in the U.S. government for The IDG News Service. Follow Grant on Twitter at GrantGross. Grant’s e-mail address is grant_gross@idg.com. Related content feature Top cybersecurity M&A deals for 2023 Fears of recession, rising interest rates, mass tech layoffs, and conservative spending trends are likely to make dealmakers cautious, but an ever-increasing need to defend against bigger and faster attacks will likely keep M&A activity steady in By CSO Staff Sep 22, 2023 24 mins Mergers and Acquisitions Mergers and Acquisitions Mergers and Acquisitions brandpost Unmasking ransomware threat clusters: Why it matters to defenders Similar patterns of behavior among ransomware treat groups can help security teams better understand and prepare for attacks By Joan Goodchild Sep 21, 2023 3 mins Cybercrime news analysis China’s offensive cyber operations support “soft power” agenda in Africa Researchers track Chinese cyber espionage intrusions targeting African industrial sectors. By Michael Hill Sep 21, 2023 5 mins Advanced Persistent Threats Cyberattacks Critical Infrastructure brandpost Proactive OT security requires visibility + prevention You cannot protect your operation by simply watching and waiting. It is essential to have a defense-in-depth approach. By Austen Byers Sep 21, 2023 4 mins Security Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe