Cloud giant Cisco has recently acquired cloud security startup CloudLock for $293 million. This $293 million includes cash as well as equity awards. CloudLock will be integrated into Cisco’s Networking and Security Business group under David Goeckeler. The deal is expected to close by November, 2016.
Cisco has utilized acquisition to build its security software and service sector; it paid $2.7 billion for Sourcefire, security hardware and software maker, in 2013 and $635 million for OpenDNS, which helps stop cyber attacks, in 2015. These acquisitions are similar to those of Microsoft, who purchased Adallom for $250 million, and Blue Coat, who purchased Perspecsys Inc.
About CloudLock:
Founded in 2007, Massachusetts based CloudLock currently has about 130 employees. It provides cloud access security broker (CASB) technology that allows enterprises to protect data within their cloud. This platform acts as a control point for users that are attempting to access cloud based applications such as Microsoft 365. This technology allows policies pertaining to data access to be established and enforced. It also allows security administrators to monitor third party applications that enterprise employees may be utilizing without expressed permission of the enterprise.
Essentially, CASB gives administrators a control point for cloud security and visibility. Because of these unique capabilities, the demand for CASB technology is expected to increase sharply in the coming years. This increase is driven by growing utilization of Software as a Service (SaaS) applications such as Office 365.
Comments:
Rob Salvagno, head of Cisco’s M&A and venture investment team: “‘Buy’ has been a key part of our innovation strategy, alongside significant internal product development, to drive towards a fully integrated security portfolio.”
Rob Salvagno, vice president of Cisco Corporate Development: “CloudLock brings a unique cloud-native platform and API-based approach to cloud security, which allows them to build powerful security solutions that are easy to deploy and simple to manage.”
Luke Burns, general partner at Ascent Venture Partners:”CloudLock rose to leadership in the cloud security sector with a pure-play approach of being cloud-native while leveraging other cloud platform APIs in a collaborative fashion. They were a trailblazer of this approach while the competition often focused their efforts on extending legacy methods.”
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