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Google has confirmed it acquired cyber security specialist Siemplify, reportedly for $500 million, to become part of Google Cloud’s Chronicle.
Google is kicking off the new year by stepping up its operations in cloud-based and enterprise security. The company confirmed that it has acquired Siemplify, an Israel-based cyber security start-up that specialises in end-to-end security services for enterprises, typically referred to as security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR) services.
The acquisition was rumoured in earlier reports in the Israeli press. Now Google and Siemplify's CEO and co-founder Amos Stern have both confirmed the acquisition, noting that Siemplify will be integrated into Google Cloud Platform, and specifically its Chronicle operation.
Google and Siemplify did not respond to our questions asking about the price, but our sources close to the deal have confirmed that it is $500 million (a figure also mentioned in the earlier reports).
Chronicle was originally founded as an enterprise security company with Google "X". It migrated into Google itself by way of Google Cloud in 2019 as part of the search giant's efforts to expand its enterprise revenues, by expanding the functionality and services around its cloud services business, in hot pursuit of Microsoft's Azure and Amazon's AWS, the two leaders in that market.
Siemplify had raised $58 million in total, with its last round back in May 2019. Investors included Georgian, 83North, Jump Capital and G20 Ventures, as well as a number of individuals. Although Siemplify has its head office now in New York, the company was founded and still has R&D operations in Israel, which would make this Google's first cyber acquisition out of the country.
Google's acquisition comes at a critical time in the world of cyber security. The bigger picture is that security breaches show no sign of abating, a situation that is being propelled by ever-more sophisticated approaches from malicious hackers; and an ever-more tempting target, as organisations and consumers bring more and more of their infrastructure and everyday activities online and into the cloud.
Chronicle was built as a platform designed for cyber security telemetry: specifically tracking the movement of data across all devices and networks, as a way of getting a clue to detecting and stopping breaches. SOAR platforms are the customer-interface element of that activity: they are used by security operations specialists to manage and monitor activity, begin the process of remediation (either automatically or manually) and to log everything to help prevent the same thing from happening in the future. As Google adds more services and automation to attract more customers, adding SOAR capabilities is the logical next step for the company.
In a blog post announcing the acquisition, Sunil Potti, GM of Google Cloud Security, explained that Google's intention is to integrate Siemplify’s capabilities into Chronicle in ways that help enterprises modernise and automate their security operations.
"The Siemplify platform is an intuitive workbench that enables security teams to both manage risk better and reduce the cost of addressing threats.
"Siemplify allows Security Operation Center analysts to manage their operations from end-to-end, respond to cyber threats with speed and precision, and get smarter with every analyst interaction.
"The technology also helps improve SOC performance by reducing caseloads, raising analyst productivity, and creating better visibility across workflows," Potti wrote.
[Related: SMSishing and ‘hacks in space’ predicted to rise in 2022]
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