Zscaler Inc. today announced that it has acquired Airgap Networks Inc., a startup with a software platform designed to improve the security of enterprise networks.

The deal’s financial terms were not disclosed. Santa Clara, California-based Airgap previously raised more than $18 million from investors. It counts multiple Fortune 500 companies as customers.

Nasdaq-listed Zscaler is a major provider of cybersecurity software. Its applications help enterprises find vulnerabilities in their cloud workloads, ensure business data is only shared with authorized users and perform related tasks. The company’s product portfolio generated $525 million in revenue last quarter, up 25% from the same time a year earlier. 

Airgap Networks, the startup Zscaler has acquired, provides a so-called microsegmentation platform of the same name. The software can limit data traffic between a company’s devices and applications to reduce the risk of breaches.

Hackers often use a tactic known as lateral movement to breach enterprise networks. First, they compromise a vulnerable system such as a server that was accidentally left accessible through the public web. The hackers then use the compromised device as a springboard to access other assets in the same network. 

Airgap Networks’ platform blocks systems from exchanging data with one another unless they strictly require the ability to do so. An application used by the marketing team, for example, can be prevented from connecting to the finance department’s databases. Blocking unnecessary connections between technology assets makes it more difficult for hackers to spread malware from system to system.

Historically, implementing such network isolation took a significant amount of time and effort. The reason is that administrators had to specify manually which systems a given workload may access and which it can’t. Airgap Networks says that its platform automates much of the manual work involved in creating microsegmentation rules, which saves time for users.

The platform also provides a number of other features. Last year, Airgap Networks introduced a chatbot called ThreatGPT that allows administrators to find information about potential breaches using natural language prompts. The platform also makes it possible to visualize network data in graphs. 

“Airgap can provide visibility and policy enforcement at every connected endpoint without adding any software to those sensitive endpoints,” Naresh Kumar, vice president and general manager of product management at Zscaler, detailed in a blog post. “This approach eliminates the risk of east-west lateral movement on local networks as well as the complexity of traditional segmentation approaches like east-west firewalls, without hardware upgrades or operational disruption.”

Zscaler plans to integrate the company’s technology with its Zero Trust SD-WAN platform. The latter offering can be used to secure the WAN, or wide-area network, that links a company’s data centers and other geographically disparate assets with one another.

Photo: Zscaler