Security firm Sophos Group plc today said it has acquired Avid Secure Inc., a San Francisco-based startup that offers artificial intelligence-based cloud security tools.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Coming into the acquisition, Avid Secure was privately owned and had not raised any venture capital.

Founded in 2017, Avid Secure provides an AI-based cloud security analytics, compliance and DevSecOps platform that offers end-to-end protection for public cloud services such as Amazon Web Services Inc., Microsoft Corp.’s Azure and the Google Inc. Cloud.

Avid says its platform addresses real-world challenges of effective cloud security, including lack of workload visibility and constant monitoring required to stay ahead of sophisticated attacks. With what it calls an “agentless platform” that secures cloud infrastructure end-to-end, Avid Secure says that it helps businesses reduce the time and cost to secure their infrastructure, including saving up to 30 percent on compliance costs.

For Sophos, the acquisition will allow it to expand on its current capabilities.

“The accelerated adoption of public cloud environments is presenting new data security challenges to organizations,” Dan Schiappa, senior vice president and general manager of products at Sophos, said in a statement. “With the cloud workload protection and the cloud security posture management software from Avid Secure, Sophos will expand its current capabilities in cloud security and drive leadership in this growing space.”

The deal is Sophos’ first acquisition since it acquired endpoint security solutions startup Invincea Inc. for $100 million plus in February 2017. Invenca was integrated into the Sophos Intercept X endpoint security product. It’s not clear what Sophos’ long-term goals for Avid Secure are, but it’s likely to follow a similar path.

Previous Sophos acquisitions include Barricade IO, Surfright, Mojave Networks, Cyberoam, Astaro, Utimaco and ActiveState.

Photo: Avid Secure/Twitter