Palo Alto Networks to buy digital forensics consulting firm for $265M

It’s been quite a day in the tech world, with a bushel of S-1s being filed to go public. Not to be left out, the ever acquisitive Palo Alto Networks announced its intent to acquire The Crypsis Group, an incident response, risk management and digital forensics consulting firm, for a crisp $265 million.

Nikesh Arora, chairman and CEO at Palo Alto Networks, sees a company that builds on the foundation of services the cybersecurity giant already provides, giving customers a set of services to lean on when a breach happens.

“By joining forces, we will be able to help customers not only predict and prevent cyberattacks but also mitigate the impact of any breach they may face,” he said. While the kinds of tools that Palo Alto provides are designed to prevent attacks, the fact is no set of tools is foolproof, and it’s always going to be a cat and mouse game between companies like Palo Alto and the attackers trying to breach their defenses.

Crypsis can help figure out how a breach happened and ways to close up the cracks in the foundation to prevent access through that particular weak point in the future. “We have dedicated ourselves to creating a more secure world through the fight against cybercrime. Together with Palo Alto Networks, we will be able to help businesses and governments better respond to threat actors on a global scale,” Bret Padres, CEO of The Crypsis Group said in a statement.

When the deal closes, and The Crypsis Group is in the fold, Palo Alto will gain more than 150 highly trained consultants, who have been handling approximately 1,300 incidents a year. This gives Palo Alto some serious consulting fire power to deal with those times when attackers get through their defenses.

The Crypsis Group has up until now been part of a larger security consultancy called ZP Group. The deal is expected to close in the fiscal first quarter of 2021, which just started when Q42020 closed today. Per usual, the acquisition will be subject to regulatory scrutiny, as Palo Alto is a public company.