Cisco To Scoop Up Lightspin In Second Cloud Security Purchase Of 2023
In its second cloud security-related acquisition of the year, Cisco revealed plans on Wednesday to buy cloud security posture management specialist Lightspin.
Cisco Systems announced plans to acquire Lightspin, a cloud security software company, as the networking giant carries out its mission to unify its security portfolio.
Privately held Lightspin specializes in end-to-end cloud security posture management (CSPM) across cloud-native resources. Cisco and Lightspin together will be able to meet their shared goal of helping customers modernize their cloud environments with end-to-end security and observability, from build to runtime, Vijoy Pandey, Cisco’s senior vice president of engineering for emerging technologies and incubation, said in a blog post published on Wednesday.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The company had raised $20 million in total funding from such investors as Dell Technologies Capital and Ibex Investors, according to Crunchbase. Lightspin has 67 employees, according to LinkedIn. The deal marks the second security-related acquisition this year so far for Cisco.
Cisco in February revealed plans to acquire Valtix, a privately held cloud network security startup that specializes in multi-cloud network security for the likes of AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and Oracle. Combined into Cisco’s security portfolio, Valtix will add a layer of visibility between public and private cloud networks and simplify the operational burden for security teams, Cisco said of the deal last month.
Tel Aviv, Israel-based Lightspin takes a unique approach to contextualized cloud-security coverage, using graph-based technology to deliver key context, prioritization, and remediation recommendations, Pandey said.
“With the addition of Lightspin, customers will be able to identify, prioritize, and remediate critical cloud security risks without the hassle of extensive configuration requirements,” he said. “In today’s security climate, where the risk management needs of organizations can evolve overnight, it is vital that Cisco’s cloud security investments reflect the growing needs of its customers.”
Only 15 percent of organizations globally have a cybersecurity posture mature enough to defend against risks of a hybrid world, according to the results of Cisco’s cybersecurity readiness survey that was published earlier this month.
Cisco Security Cloud, revealed in June, is the basis of the company’s security strategy moving forward as Cisco works to unify its security portfolio, which has historically consisted of point products. Cisco Security Cloud is a unified, open-standards-based platform will ensure security across hybrid and multi-cloud environments with capabilities for securely connecting people, applications and devices located anywhere. The company plans to develop Cisco Security Cloud over the next several years.
Like Cisco, channel friendly Lightspin also goes to market through channel partners, including its reseller and VAR partners.
The Lightspin team will bring deep technical expertise in cloud security, product development, and SaaS security products to Cisco. Once the acquisition closes, the team will join Cisco’s Emerging Technologies and Incubation business, said San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco.