Sumo Logic Confirms Acquisition of Cybersecurity Startup JASK

The deal brings together Sumo Logic’s cloud SIEM and security compliance offerings with JASK’s autonomous security operations center software, and confirms an October CRN report that the two sides were talking about an acquisition.

Sumo Logic announced Monday the acquisition of early-stage security intelligence vendor JASK Labs to better protect modern applications, architectures and multi-cloud infrastructures.

“Customers are looking for a new approach to help them overcome the pain and complexity around an increasingly perimeter-less world,” Sumo Logic President and CEO Ramin Sayar said in a statement. “The JASK team are experts in helping customers navigate this new world. By aligning our efforts as a single team, we are able to democratize security intelligence for all.”

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

CRN reported on Oct. 22 that Redwood City, Calif.-based data analytics vendor Sumo Logic was in negotiations with Austin-based JASK about purchasing the four-year-old cybersecurity startup. Several sources told CRN at the time that JASK had significantly reduced its headcount in 2019, particularly on the go-to-market side of the business.

[Related: Sumo Logic In Talks To Acquire Cybersecurity Startup JASK: Sources]

Job data from LinkedIn indicates that JASK had reduced its headcount by 28 percent in 2019 from 141 people in January to 101 people in November. Sumo Logic didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. JASK had raised $39 million in three rounds of outside equity since its founding in 2015, with the most recent $25 million infusion from Kleiner Perkins coming in June 2018, according to Crunchbase.

Sumo Logic said bringing together its cloud SIEM and security compliance offerings with JASK’s autonomous security operations center (ASOC) software will provide customers with superior cloud-native security intelligence. The company said its platform enables new horizontal, collaborative and scalable workflows by providing on-demand security analytics and deployment agility.

“The team at JASK set out to fundamentally disrupt traditional security solutions that are no longer meeting the needs of modern security teams,” JASK CEO Greg Martin said in a statement. “We’re excited to bring together our collective security DNA and joint customers and partners to create a powerful security intelligence solution that provides a cloud-native best-in-class modern SOC and analytics solution.”

Martin is the co-founder of JASK, and will join Sumo Logic as vice president and general manager of their security business unit. Sumo Logic said the addition of JASK’s employees will bolster the company’s security engineering talent and domain expertise, as well as add Austin to the growing roster of Sumo Logic offices around the world.

Top JASK competitor Exabeam pushed back against the acquisition, with CEO Nir Polak saying that he doesn’t anticipate the Sumo Logic-JASK combination making any significant headway in the next-gen SIEM (security information and event management) market. Sumo Logic didn’t immediately provide a response to the comments made by Polak.

“User and entity behavior analytics (UEBA) and security automation and orchestration (SOAR) are table stakes and required functionality for leading vendors,” Polak said in a statement. “Sumo Logic and JASK have neither. Simply combining their tech stacks will not add up to what the market needs.”

Sumo Logic, meanwhile, said the JASK ASOC improves workflows for security analysts by addressing alert fatigue and automating repetitive tasks. The ASOC integrates with Sumo Logic’s cloud SIEM to allow analysts to identify and respond to security incidents faster and more efficiently, according to the company.

Sumo Logic said it expects to leverage JASK’s technology to make a Spec Ops offering for threat hunting publicly available by the end of 2019. The offering will link upstream emerging DevSecOps models with downstream SOC workflows, the company said, closing the loop for adaptive cloud scale defense.

The launch of a Sumo Logic ASOC offering is also expected, the company said. Sumo Logic ASOC will join the company’s two other security intelligence offerings in the cloud SIEM and security compliance space.

Sumo Logic has grown its headcount by 24 percent in 2019, according to LinkedIn, going from 594 employees in January to 735 employees this month. The SaaS machine data analytics company raised $110 million in a June round led by Battery Ventures, and has notched more than $100 million of annual revenue and a valuation of $1 billion.

The two companies said they have a rich ecosystem of customers and partners, including VARs, MSPs, and MDR (managed detection and response) players.

“Optiv is thrilled to see two of our leading cloud-native partners join forces under the Sumo Logic brand,” Optiv Americas CTO Todd Weber said in a statement. “Together, we can accelerate our joint offerings in the market for next-generation security intelligence solutions.”