The name of Unit 42, a resource within Palo Alto Networks Inc., has a double meaning.

It is the answer given by a supercomputer to the ultimate question of life in the Universe, as described in a popular science fiction book – “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” It is also a team of global threat researchers and cybersecurity experts that provides support for Palo Alto Networks’ base of 80,000 enterprise customers.

“I’m impressed with the level of intelligence that Unit 42 has,” said Lisa Martin (pictured, right), industry analyst for theCUBE. “They have such great intelligence on what’s going on with malware, with ransomware. The landscape has changed so dramatically. For every business in every industry, nobody is safe.”

Martin spoke with theCUBE industry analyst Dave Vellante (left) at Ignite ’22 in the Day One wrap discussion during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed key learnings from the first day of the conference. (* Disclosure below.)

Maintaining best of breed

The level of expertise within Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 speaks to the company’s strategy of building its portfolio through acquisition. The firm has purchased a number of security companies over the past four years, while integrating the businesses into a cohesive set of offerings.

“Can you, through merger and acquisition, build a big portfolio and still maintain best of breed?” Vellante asked. “The answer is you can’t be best of breed without having that large portfolio, single data lake, single version of the truth. In security, you have to have that visibility. That was one of the big takeaways.”

Another takeaway from the first day of interviews at Ignite ’22 was that automation is coming fast to the security world.

“Your security operations center is going to be run by AI in the next five years,” Vellante said. “Machines are going to do things that humans can’t do at scale. Humans have to rely on creativity. It’s not like you’re going to be out of a job, you’re just going to be doing a different job.”

Here’s the complete video discussion, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Ignite ’22:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Ignite ’22. Neither Palo Alto Networks, the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE