Editing Neustar (section)

==History==
Neustar was founded in [[Delaware]] in 1998 as a business unit within [[Lockheed Martin Corporation]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Holstein |first=William J. |date=2008-01-05 |title=The Company With the Biggest Little Black Book |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/business/05interview.html |access-date=2022-05-19 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> It was spun off to keep the neutrality that was essential to its original core contract with the nation's [[Telecommunications service provider|telecommunications providers]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Noguchi |first=Yuki |date=2001-02-07 |title=Home of the Big Black Book |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/2001/02/07/home-of-the-big-black-book/4689195a-1985-4657-93fa-c1c7ea612085/ |access-date=2022-05-18 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> In November 2006, it bought [[Followap|Followap, Inc.]], a UK-based enabler of mobile [[instant messaging]] services.<ref>{{Cite web|date=November 27, 2006|title=NeuStar acquires Followap for $139 million|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/2006/11/27/businesspro-followap-neustar-dc-idUKWEN034920061127|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402090534/http://uk.reuters.com/article/2006/11/27/businesspro-followap-neustar-dc-idUKWEN034920061127|archive-date=2015-04-02|publisher=[[Reuters]]}}</ref>

In 2010, Lisa Hook was named the firm's President and Chief Operating Officer. In January 2010, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' reported that under Hook's leadership, Neustar was chosen by a consortium of Hollywood studios and technology executives to manage a system whereby consumers could access movies and other video entertainment from multiple digital devices. This system was named "UltraViolet".<ref>{{cite news|last=Musgrove|first=Mike|date=January 14, 2010|title=Neustar gets deal to work on movie download anti-piracy system|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/13/AR2010011304311.html|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=May 12, 2015}}</ref> Over the next years, Neustar bought several companies: TARGUSInfo (2011), Aggregate Knowledge (2013) and [[.co|.CO Internet]] (2014).<ref>{{cite news|last=Overly|first=Steven|date=October 11, 2011|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/neustar-acquires-vienna-based-targusinfo-for-650-million-in-cash/2011/10/11/gIQA91fHdL_story.html|title=Neustar acquires Vienna-based Targusinfo for $650 million in cash|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Wasserman |first1=Todd |title=Neustar Buys Ad-Tech Firm Aggregate Knowledge for $119 Million |url=http://mashable.com/archive/neustar-aggregate-knowledge/ |work=[[Mashable]] |date=October 30, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Murphy|first=Kevin|title=Neustar pays $109 million for .CO Internet|url=http://domainincite.com/16166-neustar-pays-109-million-for-co-internet|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415225832/http://domainincite.com/16166-neustar-pays-109-million-for-co-internet|archive-date=2015-04-15|url-status=live|access-date=2015-04-10|date=2014-03-20|website=DomainIncite}}</ref>

Neustar entered into an [[asset purchase agreement]] in 2015 with [[Transaction Network Services]] for their caller authentication assets.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1265888/000126588815000044/exhibit21tns2015assetpurch.htm|title=Asset Purchase Agreement between Transaction Network Services, Inc. and Neustar, Inc.|date=September 9, 2015|publisher=[[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]]}}</ref> The following year, Neustar planned to split into two independent publicly traded companies.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/ad-tech-player-neustar-splitting-2-public-companies-172146|title=Ad Tech Player Neustar is Splitting Into 2 Public Companies|magazine=AdWeek |date=June 21, 2016|first=Christine |last=Birkner|access-date=August 17, 2016}}</ref> This plan was abandoned later that year when [[Golden Gate Capital]] and [[GIC (Singaporean sovereign wealth fund)|GIC]] announced to buy all Neustar public shares for approximately $2.9 billion ($33.50 per share).<ref>{{cite press release|url=https://www.neustar.biz/about-us/news-room/press-releases/2016/neustar-to-be-acquired-by-group-led-by-golden-gate-capital|title=Neustar to Be Acquired for $33.50 per Share in Cash by Group Led by Golden Gate Capital|publisher=Neustar|date=December 14, 2016}}</ref> This was completed by August 2017.<ref>{{cite press release|url=https://www.neustar.biz/about-us/news-room/press-releases/2017/acquisitionclose|title=Neustar Announces Completion of Acquisition by Group Led by Golden Gate Capital|publisher=Neustar|date=August 8, 2017}}</ref>

Neustar lost its [[Number Portability Administration Center]] (NPAC) contract in 2016 to [[Ericsson]] subsidiary Telcordia. Neustar had administered the number portability system since 1997. The local-number-portability administrator (LNPA) was created to handle NPAC, which enables users to take their phone numbers with them when they switch service providers. The NPAC manages the routing of all calls and texts for more than 650 million US and Canadian phone numbers for more than 2,000 carriers.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gibbs|first=Colin|url=https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/report-ericsson-s-telcordia-beats-neustar-for-key-number-portability-contract|title=Report: Ericsson's Telcordia beats Neustar for key number portability contract|website=[[Fierce Wireless]]|date=July 22, 2016}}</ref>

Charles Gottdiener was appointed as president and chief executive officer, succeeding Lisa Hook in July 2018.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Medici |first1=Andy |title=The new Neustar has a new CEO — and it's vacating some office space |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2018/07/23/the-new-neustar-has-a-new-ceo-and-its-vacating.html |work=[[Washington Business Journal]] |date=July 23, 2018}}</ref> In October, Neustar announced that it bought [[Verisign]]'s security services customer contracts. This includes [[Denial-of-service attack|DDoS]] protection, [[Domain Name System|DNS]] firewall, and managed and recursive DNS services customer contracts.<ref>{{cite press release|url=https://www.home.neustar/about-us/news-room/press-releases/2018/VerisignSecurityServices|title=Neustar to Acquire Verisign's Security Services Customer Contracts|publisher=Neustar |date=October 25, 2018}}</ref> Three months later, Neustar bought [[TRUSTID]], a caller authentication and fraud prevention systems provider for contact centers.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Maake |first1=Katishi |title=Neustar closes on acquisition of Oregon fraud prevention company |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2019/01/04/neustar-closes-on-acquisition-of-oregon-fraud.html |work=[[Washington Business Journal]] |date=January 4, 2019}}</ref>

[[GoDaddy]] bought Neustar's domain name registry business in August 2020, which was then renamed [[GoDaddy]] Registry.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-08-04 |title=GoDaddy completes Neustar Registry acquisition |url=https://domainnamewire.com/2020/08/04/godaddy-completes-neustar-registry-acquisition/ |access-date=2022-05-19 |website=Domain Name Wire {{!}} Domain Name News |language=en-US}}</ref> In late 2021, [[TransUnion]] purchased Neustar's main business for 3.1 billion.<ref>{{Cite web |title=TransUnion and Neustar Announce Transaction Close |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/transunion-neustar-announce-transaction-close-133500878.html |access-date=2022-05-19 |website=finance.yahoo.com |date=December 2021 |language=en-US}}</ref> However, Neustar's security business, Neustar Security Services, was excluded from the transaction and remained as a portfolio company of Golden Gate Capital and GIC,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.channelfutures.com/mergers-and-acquisitions/transunion-closes-neustar-deal-for-3-1-billion-excludes-security-business|title=TransUnion Closes Neustar Deal for $3.1 Billion, Excludes Security Business|last=Adrien|first=Claudia|website=channelfutures.com|date=December 2, 2021|access-date=December 3, 2021}}</ref> and was rebranded as [https://vercara.com/about-us Vercara] in April 2023.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230404006006/en/Neustar-Security-Services-is-Now-Vercara|title=Neustar Security Services is Now Vercara|website=businesswire.com|date=April 5, 2023|access-date=April 12, 2023}}</ref>