Fidelis Buys CloudPassage To Better Monitor Cloud Assets

Fidelis was impressed by CloudPassage’s ability to collect telemetry from different parts of the enterprise and deliver cloud security posture management and cloud workload protection from a single platform.

Fidelis Cybersecurity has purchased cloud security vendor CloudPassage to broaden the company’s reach around detecting and responding to threats.

The Bethesda, Md.-based extended detection and response (XDR) vendor was impressed by San Francisco-based CloudPassage’s ability to collect telemetry from different parts of the enterprise and deliver cloud security posture management and cloud workload protection from a single platform, according to Fidelis President and CEO Anup Ghosh (pictured).

“They’re a very good fit for our customer segment, and we think they’ve built the right platform,” Ghosh told CRN exclusively.

[Related: Fidelis Targeted By SolarWinds Hackers After Installing Orion]

Terms of the deal, which closed late Wednesday, weren’t disclosed. CloudPassage was founded in 2009 and employs more than 70 people, all of whom will be joining Fidelis, the company said. CloudPassage Founder and CEO Carson Sweet will become Fidelis’ chief cloud security officer, where Ghosh said he’ll continue to run CloudPassage and serve as the company’s chief spokesperson for cloud security.

The CloudPassage acquisition will fill the missing link in Fidelis’ XDR strategy, Ghosh said, providing visibility into cloud workloads to complement the company’s existing capabilities around network security, endpoint security and deception technology. Fidelis plans to spend the next year creating an integrated offering that marries capabilities from both companies to deliver comprehensive protection.

CloudPassage’s technology makes it possible for customers to discover cloud assets they didn’t even know they had and get reports on exposure associated with those assets, Ghosh said. Once businesses understand their exposure, Ghosh said it’s all about remediation, and customers can take advantage of the synergies between Fidelis’ endpoint technology and CloudPassage’s cloud workload monitoring.

Specifically, Ghosh said CloudPassage provides customers with a front-end interface showing their assets, exposure and paths to remediation across Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud. CloudPassage can also be integrated into the software development life cycle to ensure that SaaS applications developed in the cloud comply with regulations, according to Ghosh.

Ghosh said he’s most interested in bringing CloudPassage’s capabilities to the Global 2000, which Fidelis classifies as large enterprises and which makes up the core of the company’s customer base. CloudPassage also initially focused on large enterprises, but in recent years had shifted its focus downmarket to SMBs. Ghosh said he’s looking to reverse this trend and bring CloudPassage back to the enterprise.

CloudPassage has sold some to MSSPs and MDR providers who manage cloud security on behalf of their SMB customers, Ghosh said. But historically, Ghosh said CloudPassage hasn’t had much of a channel focus, with the company’s inside sales team calling customers directly.

Conversely, Ghosh said Fidelis has gotten out of the incident response and managed detection and response spaces so that the company can hand those services-based engagements to channel partners. Fidelis’ channel community includes global systems integrators, regional partners, resellers and MDR providers, according to Ghosh.

Fidelis’ channel partners will have immediate access to CloudPassage’s technology as well as associated training materials, Ghosh said. The company’s internal sales staff will get cross-trained on how to demo CloudPassage’s technology as well as the problems it solves, and Ghosh said that training will be rolled out to channel partners.

From a metrics standpoint, Ghosh said Fidelis is most focused on retaining CloudPassage’s employee base and growing the company’s wallet share inside existing CloudPassage customers. Fidelis also plans to monitor the number of net-new customers the combined company acquires going to market together.

“This is a new day for Fidelis,” Ghosh said. “This is a real opportunity to see Fidelis as an organization that can see across the entire enterprise: endpoint, network and cloud.”