Avalor, a cybersecurity startup focusing on data unification and risk management has been taken over by leading cloud security organization Zscalar for $310 million in cash and equity in a recent announcement by the latter. The acquisition was carried out to embed AI (artificial intelligence) more securely into its cloud security platform – the Zscalar Zero Trust Exchange.
Jay Chaudhry, founder and CEO of Zscalar, in a press release, stated, “AI is only as good as the underlying data, and many solutions lack the additional context and knowledge from data sources across the enterprise to truly leverage security-specific AI models. Zscaler operates the world’s largest security cloud with the most relevant data to train security specific large language models, and with the Avalor acquisition, we can more effectively identify vulnerabilities while predicting and preventing breaches.”
Centralizing and standardizing security risk data from several sources, such as assets, vulnerabilities, controls, identities, and bug reports, is the primary objective of Avalor’s technology. Security specialists are better equipped to recognize and rank risks thanks to this unified picture. Avalor further simplifies data gathering and analysis with more than 150 pre-built connections with other security products.
As per analysts’ opinions, a much bigger aspect of the cybersecurity industry, the emerging significance of AI and ML for threat detection and mitigation is what the aim of the deal aligns with.
The acquisition is being undertaken when cybersecurity concerns are receiving greater scrutiny. Sophisticated cyberattacks are increasingly aimed at businesses of all sizes, so possessing adequate security solutions is crucial. Secure cloud access is made possible via Zscaler’s Zero Trust Exchange platform, which applies the “least privilege” approach to access control. It is anticipated that Avalor’s data unification capabilities would improve the platform’s capacity to use AI for real-time threat identification, investigation, and removal.
The integration of Avalor’s technological expertise into its systems further highlights Zscalar’s commitment to keep itself updated with dynamic evolutions in the cybersecurity landscape. While the long-term impact of this acquisition is still a tale to unfold, Zscalar plans to empower businesses by leveraging data unification and AI to traverse the increasingly complex cyberthreat environment efficiently.