Google LLC said today it agreed to buy Wiz – a New York-based cloud security platform provider – for $32 billion in cash in a bid to expand the offerings of its Google Cloud business.
In a press release announcing the agreement, Google said its acquisition of Wiz is aimed at taking advantage of growing trends to improve cloud security and to use multiple clouds.
“The increased role of AI, and adoption of cloud services, have dramatically changed the security landscape for customers, making cybersecurity increasingly important in defending against emergent risks and protecting national security,” Google said.
The deal’s benefits to Google Cloud include:
- Improving how security is designed, operated and automated – providing an end-to-end security platform for customers, of all types and sizes, in the AI era.
- Scaling cybersecurity teams by providing them with an automated security platform.
- Lowering customers’ cost of implementing and managing security controls.
- Protecting against new threats emerging due to advances in AI, preventing breaches, and helping to improve response to breaches.
- Boosting the adoption of multi-cloud security and, as a result, customers’ ability to use multiple clouds.
“Organizations with modern IT environments need a cybersecurity solution that spans multiple clouds, as well as hybrid and on-premises environments; that can protect against threats to and from AI models; that can use AI to extend defenses; and that can fully integrate software development and operations into the security portfolio,” wrote Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud.
Wiz currently provides cloud services products to several companies including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Oracle Cloud Platforms. Wiz Co-Founder and CEO Assaf Rappaport reaffirmed that those partnerships would continue following the Google acquisition.
“Our commitment to the Wiz mission has never been stronger: we aim to help every organization secure everything they build and run in the cloud – any cloud. We believe that our partnership with Google will supercharge this vision and help us achieve it even faster,” Rappaport wrote in a social media post today.
Kurian said Google chose Wiz because of its unique capabilities in providing a cloud security platform that connects across code, cloud resources, services, and applications to form connections and combat cybersecurity risks.
“It gives start-ups, enterprises, governments, and public sector organizations the ability to protect themselves comprehensively,” Kurian said.
“Google Cloud and Wiz share a joint vision to make cybersecurity more accessible and simpler to use for organizations of any size and industry. Enabling more companies to prevent cyberattacks, including in very complicated business software environments, will help organizations minimize the cost, disruption, and hassle caused by cybersecurity incidents,” Kurian said.
Completion of the agreement is subject to regulatory approval.
