Proofpoint has reached an agreement to acquire Illusive, an identity theft detection and response (ITDR) solutions provider. The deal is expected to close by January 2023.
This is technology M&A deal number 1,029 that MSSP Alert and sister site ChannelE2E have covered so far in 2022.
Proofpoint, founded in 2002, is based in Sunnyvale, California. The company has 4,307 employees listed on LinkedIn. Proofpoint's areas of expertise include email protection, cloud application security and digital risk protection.
Illusive, founded in 2014, is based in New York, New York. The company has 132 employees listed on LinkedIn. Illusive's areas of expertise include endpoint security, deception technology and ransomware prevention.
Proofpoint Bolsters Threat and Information Protection Platforms
With the acquisition, Proofpoint will integrate the Illusive Spotlight ITDR solution and Illusive Shadow management console into its threat and information protection platforms, the companies said. In doing so, organizations will be able to use these platforms to protect against cyber threats across the entire attack chain.
Illusive Spotlight will automate threat discovery and remediation across Proofpoint's threat and information protection platforms, the companies said. It lets an organization scan its directories, privileged access management (PAM) solutions, endpoints, serves and services and get insights into any vulnerable identities.
Meanwhile, Illusive Shadow will let organizations use Proofpoint's threat and information protection platforms to identify threats based on attacker behaviors, the companies stated. This can help organizations speed up threat identification and response.
Proofpoint Upgrades Threat Protection Platform
The Illusive acquisition comes after Proofpoint in October 2022 announced several upgrades to its Threat Protection Platform at the 2022 Microsoft Ignite Conference, including:
- Supernova Behavioral Engine that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to protect against email-based cyberattacks
- Capabilities that provide security teams with visibility into potentially compromised supplier and third-party accounts
- Proofpoint PX package that uses API and inline architecture to block sophisticated business email compromise (BEC), phishing, supply chain and ransomware attacks
Proofpoint is backed by private equity firm Thoma Bravo, which acquired the company for $12.3 billion in April 2021. The company provides cybersecurity services and solutions to over 8,000 enterprises globally. It also offers a channel partner program for MSSPs, MSPs and other technology providers.
