Google is paying $5.4 billion to buy Mandiant, a cybersecurity firm well-known for detecting and investigating intrusions from state-sponsored hacking groups.
The search giant is buying Mandiant to bolster the IT security around Google’s cloud computing business, which serves enterprise clients and governments.
“Today, organizations are facing cybersecurity challenges that have accelerated in frequency, severity and diversity, creating a global security imperative,” Google said in the announcement.
Google called Mandiant “a recognized leader in strategic security advisory and incident response services.” This is a reference to how Mandiant is among the cybersecurity outfits corporations often call if they’ve suffered a hack, such as a ransomware attack.
Mandiant will thoroughly investigate the intrusion to boot the hackers out and recover the business operations. For example, back in December 2020, Mandiant helped uncover the massive SolarWinds breach, which ensnared numerous US government agencies and likely originated from Russian state-sponsored hackers.
“Mandiant’s more than 600 consultants currently respond to thousands of security breaches each year,” the cybersecurity firm said on Tuesday. “Paired with research from more than 300 intelligence analysts, these resulting insights are what power Mandiant’s dynamic cyber defense solutions.”
Google plans on offering Mandiant’s cybersecurity services to its Google Cloud clients. This includes using Mandiant to help secure a client's IT defenses before an attack can occur. Customers will also be able to tap Mandiant’s “Automated Defense” tools to help them respond to potential intrusions.
“Combined with Google Cloud’s cloud-native security offerings, the acquisition will help enterprises globally stay protected at every stage of the security lifecycle,” Google added.
The deal also occurs as Google is competing with Amazon and Microsoft for enterprise customers in the cloud computing space. The Mandiant acquisition is intended to complement “Google Cloud’s existing strengths in security,” which include other security tools designed to harden a client’s defenses and detect malware programs.
The acquisition should close later this year, pending regulatory approval.