Google strengthens cybersecurity with Mandiant acquisition

Google announced its purchase of cybersecurity enterprise Mandiant for $5.4 billion, pointing to the scope of the company's ambitions in the sector.

The deal is aimed at fostering Google's capacity to investigate cyber threats, i.e. the area where Mandiant has become widely known, as Google Cloud chief information security officer Phil Venables noted at a conference.

“I would like to stress this is contributing to additional data about prospective threats," Venables claimed. “In case you take a closer look at things we have at Google, incorporating the complementary ones from VirusTotal and our other threat analysis capabilities, this scope provides an integrated set of security operations. Google, in turn, is already powerful, with Mandiant only getting stronger.”

Venables sent a clear message about Google Cloud's cybersecurity ambitions being huge, with the deal amount being definitive. This acquisition is the second largest in Google's history, second only to the $12.5 billion buyout of Motorola a decade ago. 

In fact, the deal was regarded as a positive sign by the cybersecurity industry that one of Big Tech's most legendary names is taking the increasingly risky cyberspace seriously, said Andrew Rubin, Illumio CEO and co-founder. 

“Google, acting as a cyber-oriented corporation, demonstrates security as its prime concern,” he noted. "It's encouraging to see industry titans defending cloud environments against today's threats.” 

Analysts share the following opinion: In case Google is willing to develop its cloud business, it needs to beef up security. 

"The Google and Mandiant deal is considered the most recent in a series of high-profile, billion-dollar cybersecurity purchases over the past several years. And, of course, that won’t be the last.” Rubin mentioned. “If Google is eager to fully immerse in cyberspace, their clients also consider security as a basic tool.”