VeriSign completed its buy of managed security service provider Guardent on Friday, saying that the acquisition will boost its own network security business.

Mountain View, Calif., VeriSign originally agreed to buy privately held Guardent last December for $135 million in cash and stock.

VeriSign said that it would maintain Guardent's offices in Waltham, Mass., and Providence, R.I., gaining 160 full-time employees. Guardent's Providence site will become one of VeriSign's managed security service operation centers, the company said.

VeriSign offers critical infrastructure services for the Internet and telecommunications networks. It offers security services such as managed firewalls, intrusion detection and vulnerability alerting.

The buy is aimed at bolstering VeriSign's security services at a time when network providers are looking for more protection, VeriSign said.

Paul Twomey, head of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), said this week that security practices would be a main agenda topic when Internet players meet for an ICANN conference in Rome next week.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.