Symantec
Corp (SYMC.O)
is acquiring Israeli cybersecurity startup Fireglass, the company said on
Thursday, in a small deal designed to boost its products that protect
corporate
email and web browsing from threats.
Symantec is
paying an undisclosed sum for the Tel Aviv-based company of about 40 employees.
Fireglass specializes in an area of security called "browser
isolation," a technology that creates virtual websites allowing users to
browse any content without having viruses touch their network.
"Browser
isolation" is an area that Symantec had been looking to enter for some
time, Chief Executive Greg Brown said in an interview. He cited a Gartner
report that projected that 50 percent of enterprises would adopt browser
isolation by 2021.
Healthcare
companies, financial institutions, government and telecommunications firms have
been early adopters of the technology, he said.
"While
it's what I would call a 'tuck-in' acquisition, it will be very valuable to us
as we bring it to our customers," Brown said.
Symantec has
been one of the most serial acquirers in security companies in recent years,
gobbling up Lifelock Inc for $2.3 billion earlier this year and Blue Coat Inc
for $4.65 billion in 2015.
The deal
will also increase the company's footprint in Israel, a hotbed for
cybersecurity, where Brown said Symantec has been looking to expand. Israel,
which has more than 400 cybersecurity startups, attracts about 20 percent of
private global cyber investment, Reuters has reported.
Large U.S.
technology companies often go "shopping" in Israel when they are looking
for acquisitions and engineering talent. Last month, Microsoft (MSFT.O)
agreed to acquire Hexadite, a U.S.-Israeli provider of technology to automate
responses to cyber attacks for an undisclosed sum.
The deal is
expected to close in the third quarter of the calendar year.
Fireglass,
founded in 2014 by a former Check Point Software Technologies (CHKP.O)
executive, was backed by investors such as Lightspeed Venture Partners and
Norwest Venture Partners. It had raised $20 million in early 2016 and competes
with Menlo Security.
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