At a glance
Forcepoint is a private equity-owned cybersecurity company, owned by Francisco Partners since 2021. Forcepoint's history is complex: the company was formed from Raytheon's cybersecurity assets and Websense, acquired by Raytheon in 2015, spun off in 2019, and acquired by Francisco Partners in 2021. The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas. Revenue figures are not publicly disclosed under PE ownership.
In 2025, Forcepoint acquired GetVisibility, adding AI-powered DSPM capability to its portfolio. GetVisibility specialises in unstructured data discovery and classification using AI, with particular strength in government and regulated industry environments. The acquisition is Forcepoint's most significant product investment since the Francisco Partners acquisition and positions the company with a combined DLP+DSPM narrative.
What Forcepoint DLP actually is
Forcepoint DLP is a network, endpoint, and cloud DLP platform with particular strength in government and defence environments. The platform's UEBA (User and Entity Behaviour Analytics) integration is one of the stronger behaviour-based DLP approaches in the legacy DLP category. Forcepoint's government channel — including significant Federal deployments in the US and government contracts in allied nations — represents the most durable part of its business.
Post-GetVisibility acquisition, Forcepoint is positioning the combined platform as a unified DLP+DSPM offering. GetVisibility's AI-powered classification for unstructured data (similar in approach to Concentric AI) adds genuine capability that Forcepoint's legacy DLP did not have. However, integration of an acquired company into a PE-owned platform typically takes 18–36 months to reach production quality — buyers should assess which capabilities are from the Forcepoint legacy platform and which are from the GetVisibility acquisition before scoping a deployment.
Capability assessment
Strengths: Strong government and regulated industry heritage with appropriate certifications and channel relationships. UEBA-driven behavioural DLP is a genuine differentiator for insider threat use cases in government environments. The GetVisibility acquisition adds DSPM discovery and classification capability that addresses the category gap. Francisco Partners has invested in the Forcepoint brand and product; unlike Broadcom's approach to Symantec, there is evidence of product investment in the government channel.
Weaknesses: Commercial enterprise investment is limited relative to cloud-native competitors. The PE ownership model creates uncertainty about long-term roadmap investment and pricing trajectory — Francisco Partners will need to exit Forcepoint, and the exit dynamics will shape buyer risk in the 2025-2027 window. GetVisibility integration is early. Cloud-native SaaS coverage is less mature than pure-play alternatives. APJ presence is minimal outside government channels.
Best and worst fit
Best for: Government agencies and defence contractors with established Forcepoint deployments. Regulated industries (particularly US Federal) with specific Forcepoint certifications in scope. Organisations where Forcepoint's insider threat detection capability is the primary use case.
Worst for: Commercial enterprises evaluating standalone DLP or DSPM — cloud-native alternatives offer better capability at lower total cost. Buyers needing APJ presence. Organisations whose primary data risk is cloud-native SaaS rather than network and endpoint.