Symantec to buy Israeli cybersecurity firm Fireglass
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Symantec Corp. is acquiring Israeli cybersecurity start-up Fireglass, the company said on Thursday, in a small deal designed to boost its products that protect corporate email and website browsing from threats.
Symantec is paying an undisclosed sum for the Tel Aviv-based company of about 40 employees. No financial details about the deal were disclosed, but media reports in Israel said Symantec will pay $250 million.
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 Clark said in an interview. He cited a Gartner report that projected that 50% of enterprises would adopt browser isolation by 2021.
Health-care companies, financial institutions, governments and telecommunications firms have been early adopters of the technology, he said.
“While it’s what I would call a ‘tuckin’ acquisition, it will be very valuable to us as we bring it to our customers,” Clark said.
Symantec has been one of the most serial purchasers of security companies in recent years, gobbling up Lifelock Inc. for $2.3 billion earlier this year and Blue Coat Inc. for $4.65b. in 2015.
The deal will also increase the company’s footprint in Israel, a hotbed for cybersecurity, where Clark said Symantec has been looking to expand. Israel, which has more than 400 cybersecurity start-ups, attracts about 20% of private global cyber investment, Reuters has reported.
Large US technology companies often go “shopping” in Israel when they are looking for acquisitions and engineering talent. Last month, Microsoft agreed to acquire Hexadite, a US-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 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.
Globes contributed to this report.