Cybersecurity firm Rapid 7 exploring sale sources - sources

Exclusive-Cybersecurity firm Rapid 7 explores sale sources Reuters Rapid 7 Inc, a cybersecurity firm that hired Twitter Inc whistleblower Peiter Zatko last month, is looking at options that include a possible sale, according to people familiar with the matter.

The sources said that the company is working with investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc as it considers approaches from parties that include private equity firms.

The sources said the discussions are at an early stage and no deal is certain, and they asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential.

Rapid 7 spokespeople didn't respond immediately to a request for comment. A Goldman Sachs spokesman didn't want to say anything.

The Rapid 7, which has a market value of about $2.4 billion, has dropped nearly 60% over the past year, due to concerns about the company's competitive position and a broader sell-off in technology stocks.

Rapid 7 specializes in so-called vulnerability management, providing software tools and services that help businesses assess and monitor security risks. Corporate clients have cut down spending because of concerns about an economic slowdown and has forced it to compete harder for its business.

Rapid 7 hired Zatko, a former hacker who served as Twitter's head of security until his firing in January 2022, as a part-time consultant. Zatko's claims about Twitter's security flaws and lack of control over spam bots were seized by Elon Musk last year in his unsuccessful bid to pull out of his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter.