Cloud-enabled security solution provider Barracuda Networks acquired SKOUT Cybersecurity in an attempt to foray into the extended detection and response (XDR) market.
With the acquisition, Barracuda will supplement the company’s previous integrations with Open XDR platforms. The acquisition is anticipated to close this month, subject to obtaining required regulatory and third-party consents, and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.
Barracuda claimed SKOUT’s XDR platform, which specialises in cyber-as-a-service for managed service providers (MSPs), connects with “critical security infrastructures such as email, firewall and identity and access” to address threats “more efficiently” with” additional threat detection, threat analysis, and response capabilities”.
It will “eliminate customers’ expense of training and staffing for 24×7 service” because of the ability to instead “utilise SKOUT’s security professionals to handle the SOC operation”. Furthermore, Skout will bring advanced technology and continue Barracuda’s strategic M&A momentum, which includes the recent acquisition of Zero Trust Access provider Fyde, it said.
In fact, 80% of security professionals said XDR solutions — which automatically collect and correlate data from multiple security layers to improve threat detection — should be a top priority for their organization, and 68% of enterprises plan to implement XDR in 2021 and 2022, according to recent research.
Barracuda MSP senior vice president and general manager Brian Babineau said, “MSPs must be able to protect their customers’ end users, their devices, and the data they are accessing with these devices against increasingly sophisticated threats.
“To achieve this level of protection for their customers and themselves, MSPs are transforming their businesses into “security-centric” operations. The addition of SKOUT enables Barracuda’s MSP partners to deploy security solutions across their environments, connecting their data feeds into a unified, 24×7 operation for swift analysis and response.”
Previously a public company, Barracuda was taken private by private equity firm Thoma Bravo who acquired the company for $1.6bn in November 2017. The company, which competes with Palo Alto Networks and Symantec, provides security for cloud-connected networks and applications and counts the likes of Delta Airlines, Hootsuite and Samsung among its 200,000+ customers.
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