IBM has finalized a deal to acquire a startup called Resilient Systems Inc. in a move that not only bolsters its own security offerings, but also means it obtains the services of one of the world’s foremost computer security expects, Bruce Schneier.

Rumors of the deal first emerged last week. Although the terms of the deal have not been disclosed, Xconomy last week reported a price “upwards of $100 million”. The deal is set to close “later this year”, IBM said in an announcement.

Resilient Systems makes what’s called an “incident response” platform, as well as a knowledge base on regulatory and compliance needs, which combined together can help companies to respond more rapidly and minimize the impact of any security breach. The acquisition means that IBM security can now offer an integrated, end-to-end security platform that encompasses analytics, forensics, vulnerability management and incident response.

“We are excited to be joining IBM Security, the industry’s fastest-growing enterprise security company,” said John Bruce, Resilient Systems’ CEO. “By combining, the market now has access to the leading prevention, detection and response technologies available in the same portfolio – the security trifecta.”

IBM added that it intends to offer jobs to all of Resilient’s 100 or so employees once the acquisition closes, including Schneier, who serves as the company’s CTO. But despite landing a new job, Schneier said in a blog post that he has no intention of giving up blogging or writing about security issues.

“We’re still working out what I’ll be doing at IBM; these months focused more on the company than on me personally,” Schneier wrote in a blog post discussing the acquisition. “I know they want me to be involved in all of IBM Security. The people I’ll be working with know I’ll continue to blog and write books. (They also know that my website is way more popular than theirs.) They know I’ll continue to talk about politically sensitive topics. They know they won’t be able to edit or constrain my writings and speaking. At least, they say they know it; we’ll see what actually happens. But I’m optimistic. There are other IBM people whose public writings do not represent the views of IBM — so there’s precedent.”

In announcing the acquisition, IBM also revealed details of a new remote response security service it’s offering. Big Blue said the new service involves IBM engineers monitoring client’s data flows and providing alerts if they see evidence of any intruders trying to use malicious code.

“By adding Resilient Systems’ technology and expertise, IBM will have an industry-leading range of capabilities to help clients respond to cyber breaches, across consulting, services, and products,” said Marc van Zadelhoff, GM at IBM Security. “With our intent to acquire Resilient Systems, and our other announcements today, we are doubling down on the incident response market. Cybersecurity needs to function like an immune system, both in preventing breaches, but also in quickly eradicating those that do occur.”

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