Check Point, Zscaler ink startup acquisitions in latest round of cybersecurity consolidation
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. and Zscaler Inc., two publicly traded cybersecurity providers, today both announced startup acquisitions designed to bolster their product portfolios.
Check Point is buying vulnerability detection specialist Veriti Security Ltd. Zscaler, in turn, has inked a deal to purchase Red Canary Inc., a venture-backed provider of managed detection and response services. The acquisition terms weren’t disclosed in either case.
Manually checking every single device and application in a corporate network for vulnerabilities can require a significant amount of time. As a result, some cybersecurity issues go unnoticed for weeks or more. That creates an opportunity for hackers to launch cyberattacks before administrators apply a patch.
Israel-based Veriti offers a platform that promises to address the challenge. It can automatically scan a company’s infrastructure for insecure configuration settings, vulnerable software and other issues. Veriti does so without requiring administrators to install agents, or data collection programs, which eases maintenance.
The platform uses artificial intelligence models to prioritize the issues it finds. According to Veriti, its software ranks vulnerabilities based on the likelihood that they will lead to a cyberattack. The platform also predicts the business impact of such cyberattacks. The company says that information enables administrators to fix the most urgent issues first.
In some cases, poaching a vulnerability immediately after it’s detected is not possible. Veriti provides a so-called virtual patching tool for such situations. The tool can render a vulnerability unusable for hackers without requiring administrators to install a software update on the affected system.
Check Point expects to close the acquisition by the end of its second quarter. The company will integrate Veriti’s technology into Infinity, an offering that enables customers to purchase several of its cybersecurity products using a single subscription.
“We founded Veriti to help organizations not just see risk, but remediate it safely, at scale, and most importantly – without disruption,” said Veriti co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Adi Ikan.
For its part, Zscaler helps enterprises protect their cloud environments. Its software also eases other tasks such as establishing encrypted connections to edge devices. The company counts nearly 45% of the Fortune 500 as customers.
It’s buying Red Canary, a Denver-based cybersecurity startup backed by more than $140 million in funding. The latter company’s flagship offering is a managed detection and response, or MDR, service. Organizations that purchase the service can have Red Canary monitor their infrastructure for cyberattacks and remediate them.
Zscaler collects a significant amount of data about hacker activity through its products. Following the acquisition, it will use that data to enhance Red Canary’s MDR capabilities. Zscaler expects to complete the transaction in August.
“Zscaler’s global scale and reach provide the resources and granular data needed to fuel advanced AI, threat intelligence and detection engineering, giving us a broader view of adversary behavior while enabling faster innovation,” said Red Canary CEO Brian Beyer.