10 Cybersecurity Companies Making Moves: December 2023

We’re taking a look at security vendors that unveiled acquisitions and executive hires, announced funding rounds or launched notable new products in December.

Hot Market, Big Moves

While December is rarely a major month for cybersecurity companies to unveil major announcements, the end of 2023 still saw a series of significant product launches, executive hires and other big moves around the industry. Perhaps of even greater interest to the industry, however, was what didn’t happen: There was no repeat of the widely felt attacks disclosed in December 2020 (the SolarWinds software supply chain breach) or in December 2021 (the massive exploitation of a critical Apache Log4j vulnerability). [Related: 10 Major Cyberattacks And Data Breaches In 2023]

In terms of what did transpire in the final month of 2023, security vendors that debuted new products included Cisco and Fortinet. December also saw a steady stream of startup acquisition announcements, including acquisitions by Okta and Wiz, as well as Palo Alto Networks’ closure of its deal to acquire Talon. Meanwhile, key executive moves announced during the month included a big channel hire by Zscaler.

What follows are the details on 10 cybersecurity companies that announced major moves in December 2023.

Wiz

Wiz announced its first acquisition to date in a deal for cloud developer collaboration startup Raftt. The cloud security company did not disclose terms for the acquisition, although a Bloomberg report pegged the deal value at between $40 million and $50 million. Raftt brings fewer than 20 employees, a Wiz spokesperson told CRN.

Wiz, the top-valued unicorn in cybersecurity with a valuation of $10 billion, said that its acquisition of Raftt will boost its efforts to embed security further into the software development process. Ultimately, Raftt will enable Wiz to add “new capabilities for preventing costly production issues at the source,” Wiz co-founder and CEO Assaf Rappaport said in a news release.

Like Wiz, Raftt was founded in Israel. The startup, which launched in early 2021, has reportedly raised $5 million in funding to date.

Cisco

In December, Cisco unveiled new AI-powered technology aimed at enabling enhanced usage of firewalls, dubbed AI Assistant for Security. One new tool, AI Assistant for Firewall Policy, will allow organizations to use natural language to obtain policies and rule recommendations, Cisco said. The tool will also help with reducing duplicate rules as well as rule misconfigurations, according to the company. The Cisco AI Assistant for Security will first be available in the Cisco’s Firewall Management Center and Cisco Defense Orchestrator.

A second new AI-powered offering is Cisco’s Encrypted Visibility Engine, which will be available across firewall models. The technology “leverages billions of samples, including sandboxed malware samples, to determine if the encrypted traffic is transporting malware,” the company said in a news release. “It can tell which operating system the traffic is coming from and what client application is generating that - all without the need for decryption.” The Encrypted Visibility Engine will be available as part of the 7.4.1 Operating System for all Cisco Secure Firewall products, the company said.

Zscaler

Zscaler hired longtime channel leader Christine McElduff (pictured) from Palo Alto Networks to help spearhead the cybersecurity vendor’s expanding partner efforts. McElduff, who most recently had spent 11 years at Palo Alto Networks, joined Zscaler as its new vice president for Americas partner and alliances sales. The role includes responsibility for partners in the U.S., Canada and Latin America.

McElduff will serve as a key leader on the team helmed by Zscaler Channel Chief Karl Soderlund, with a focus on engaging with partners as well as crafting and driving the security service edge vendor’s channel strategy. “She understands the intricacies of the indirect motion and she is, hands-down, one of the best strategic operators I've ever seen,” Soderlund told CRN.

The position filled by McElduff had been vacant since the departure of John Tavares in late October, according to Soderlund.

McElduff had been with Palo Alto Networks since 2012, when she joined as a channel account manager. She moved up through a series of positions before being named senior director for the company’s Americas channel organization in 2021.

Fortinet

In December, Fortinet announced its new GenAI-powered security assistant, Fortinet Advisor, aimed at helping to boost productivity and effectiveness for security operations teams. Key capabilities of the tool include rapid analysis and interpretation of security incidents; generation of investigation queries (even for complex issues); creation of remediation plans; and augmentation of playbook template generation. Fortinet Advisor is now available as part of Fortinet’s FortiSIEM and FortiSOAR offerings, the company said.

Snyk

Snyk announced an update to its application security posture management (ASPM) offering, AppRisk, with the debut of AppRisk Essentials. The tool provides automatic discovery of app assets that are code-based as well as management of security coverage and prioritization based on risk, Snyk said in a blog post. In terms of automated discovery, AppRisk Essentials allows users to continually uncover app assets and classify the assets based on their business context, “ensuring a security program is fully in sync with developers,” Snyk said in the post.

Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks announced closing its acquisition of Talon Cyber Security, a secure web browser startup, and disclosed that Talon’s Enterprise Browser will be made available free to “qualified” SASE AI customers. The cybersecurity giant reportedly paid $625 million to acquire Tel Aviv, Israel-based Talon. In a news release announcing the deal in November, Palo Alto Networks Chief Product Officer Lee Klarich pointed to the widespread use of SaaS and web-based applications, often through the browser, in modern organizations. “Talon enables organizations to secure all work activity via an Enterprise Browser, without touching the personal usage of the device or impacting user privacy,” Klarich said.

Palo Alto Networks said that the complimentary Talon Enterprise Browser for “qualified” SASE AI customers “will be available soon.”

Okta

Identity security vendor Okta announced a deal to acquire Spera Security, an identity posture management startup based in Tel Aviv, Israel. Okta did not disclose terms of the deal, but multiple reports pegged the acquisition price at between $100 million and $130 million. The addition of Spera’s technology is part of a push by Okta to do more in the area of identity threat detection and response (ITDR). “Spera Security builds on Okta’s existing ITDR capabilities with a focus on security posture management and attack surface management,” the company said in a blog post.

The acquisition is expected to close during Okta’s fiscal first quarter, which begins Feb. 1, 2024.

Halcyon

In December, Halcyon announced raising a $40 million Series B round of funding, giving the cybersecurity startup a total of $90 million raised during 2023. Halcyon, which CRN named among the 10 hottest cybersecurity startups of the year, had earlier raised $50 million in Series A funding in April. With the Series B round, Bain Capital Ventures led the funding and Enrique Salem — a partner at the VC firm and former CEO of Symantec — joined the board at Halcyon. Founded in 2021, the startup offers a number of capabilities aimed at thwarting ransomware — including pre-execution ransomware prevention using proprietary AI/ML and methods for tricking an attack into revealing itself or aborting.

Secureworks and SentinelOne

In December, publicly traded cybersecurity vendors SentinelOne and Secureworks announced teaming up on a joint channel program. In a news release, the companies said the program will provide solution provider partners with “enhanced” training as well as access to integrated technologies from the companies. Partners will also receive access to “hundreds of API integrations at no additional cost” as well as “joint marketing activity at a partner level,” the vendors said in the release.

Barracuda Networks

Barracuda Networks unveiled its new global partner program in December, following the appointment of Patrick O’Donnell as senior vice president of worldwide MSP sales in November. On Dec. 5, Barracuda announced the launch of its new Barracuda Partner Success Program, with “support for resell partners across multiple routes to market” including resale, managed services and marketplace, the company said in a news release. Through the new program, partners “will be recognized for their Barracuda business as a whole, regardless of the route to market, and they will be provided with benefits and resources based on their total sales contribution,” Barracuda said.