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Qualys Buys Blue Hexagon, Adds AI, ML Capabilities to Cloud Platform

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Qualys, an IT security and compliance platform provider, has acquired agentless cloud security company Blue Hexagon for an undisclosed sum.

This is technology M&A deal number 866 that MSSP Alert and sister site ChannelE2E have covered so far in 2022.

Qualys, founded in 1999, is based in Foster City, California. The company has 2,101 employees listed on LinkedIn. Qualys' areas of expertise include container, network and web application security.

Blue Hexagon, founded in 2017, is based in Sunnyvale, California. The company has 22 employees listed on LinkedIn. Blue Hexagon's areas of expertise include artificial intelligence (AI), cloud security and network detection and response.

All Blue Hexagon employees are joining Qualys team as part of the acquisition, the companies stated. Also, Blue Hexagon CEO Nayeem Islam has been named vice president of product management for Qualys' threat analytics platform.

Qualys Enhances Its Cloud Platform

Blue Hexagon adds AI and machine learning (ML) capabilities to the Qualys Cloud Platform, the companies said. It lets Qualys Cloud Platform users convert petabytes of integrated data into security insights and generate predictive analytics to reduce the risk of open vulnerabilities and threats.

In addition, Blue Hexagon allows Qualys Multi-Vector EDR and Context XDR to collect, inspect and analyze network telemetry, protocols and traffic without an agent, the companies indicated. Qualys also has integrated Blue Hexagon's AI and ML capabilities into Qualys Vulnerability Management, Detection and Response (VMDR) to help users detect active exploitations based on behavior patterns and suspicious activities over the network.

Qualys Boosts Revenues

The Blue Hexagon acquisition comes after Qualys reported revenues of $119.9 million in the second quarter of 2022, which represented a 20% year-over-year increase. During the quarter, Qualys continued to "execute well" across its go-to-market and platform innovation efforts, CEO Sumedh Thakar said. Qualys plans to continue to invest in its partner programs as well.

Qualys in May 2022 announced several enhancements to its channel partner program. The company has partnered with MSSPs from around the world and looks poised to explore new channel partnerships in the near future.

Dan Kobialka

Dan Kobialka is senior contributing editor, MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E. He covers IT security, IT service provider business strategies and partner programs. Dan holds a M.A. in Print and Multimedia Journalism from Emerson College and a B.A. in English from Bridgewater State University. In his free time, Dan enjoys jogging, traveling, playing sports, touring breweries and watching football.