What you need to know
- Google announced today that it intends to acquire Mandiant for approximately $5.4 billion in cash.
- Mandiant was the cybersecurity firm that unearthed the SolarWinds attack in late 2020.
- It will be integrated into Google Cloud when the transaction is completed.
Google is making yet another huge investment, this time in cloud security. The search giant announced today that it has agreed to acquire cybersecurity firm Mandiant in an all-cash transaction worth approximately $5.4 billion.
The official announcement means that Microsoft is already out of the picture after it was rumored last month to be in talks to buy Mandiant. Bloomberg reports that Microsoft scrapped the negotiations due to "concerns that Mandiant’s collection of security businesses wasn’t a good enough strategic fit."
Assuming Google's acquisition of Mandiant is approved by regulators, the cybersecurity firm will be baked into Google Cloud. The Mountain View-based giant plans to develop an "end-to-end security operations suite" with aid from Mandiant.
Google Cloud already offers a bunch of security services for malicious content and software vulnerabilities, enterprise cyber threat detection, and more. Mandiant's addition to the mix will bolster its services in key areas ranging from cybersecurity consulting to threat intelligence and automation.
"Organizations around the world are facing unprecedented cybersecurity challenges as the sophistication and severity of attacks that were previously used to target major governments are now being used to target companies in every industry," said Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud. "We look forward to welcoming Mandiant to Google Cloud to further enhance our security operations suite and advisory services, and help customers address their most important security challenges."
Mandiant's more than 600 consultants and over 300 intelligence analysts will join Google Cloud once the transaction is completed.
If you've been following Google's cybersecurity initiatives, this news shouldn't come as a surprise. Last year, the company announced a $10 billion commitment to help improve cybersecurity in the U.S.
The announcement came on the heels of the SolarWinds hack that was uncovered in late 2020. Interestingly, it was Mandiant that unearthed the incident.
Google's Mandiant buy is expected to close later this year, pending regulatory approval and subject to customary closing conditions.
