Google has announced it will purchase cybersecurity company Mandiant for nearly US$5.4 billion (A$7.42 billion), a timely acquisition given the rise of cybercrime.
Mandiant has been instrumental in uncovering malicious cyber attacks from nation-state sponsored groups based in Russia, China, and Iran.
Kevin Mandia, CEO of Mandiant, founded the company in 2004, after leaving the US Air Force. He said he decided to sell to Google due to their vast cloud network and skills in automation.
“I don’t look at this as selling my baby. I look at it as moving the mission forward,” Mandia said.
“Organisations around the world are facing unprecedented cybersecurity challenges as the sophistication and severity of attacks that were previously used to target major governments are now being used to target companies in every industry,” said Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud.
“We look forward to welcoming Mandiant to Google Cloud to further enhance our security operations suite and advisory services, and help customers address their most important security challenges.”
Mandia notes, “there has never been a more critical time in cybersecurity,” adding: “Since our founding in 2004, Mandiant’s mission has been to combat cyber attacks and protect our customers from the latest threats.
“To that end, we are thrilled to be joining forces with Google Cloud. Together, we will deliver expertise and intelligence at scale, changing the security industry.”
