Proofpoint has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire ObserveIT for $225m.
Extending its data loss prevention (DLP) capabilities with the acquisition of the insider threat management provider, Proofpoint said that the combination of ObserveIT’s lightweight endpoint agent technology and data risk analytics with Proofpoint’s information classification, threat detection and intelligence, will offer “unprecedented insights into user activity with their sensitive data.” The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2019.
ObserveIT’s insider threat management solution enables security teams to detect, investigate, and prevent potential insider threat incidents by delivering real-time alerts, and actionable insights into user activity in one solution. Set to be integrated with Proofpoint’s information protection suite, this will deliver real-time detection of the anomalous interactions across people, data, devices, and applications allowing security teams to understand and respond to data being mishandled, whether on a corporate device, in a cloud app like Office 365, or via email.
“Today’s ObserveIT acquisition underscores Proofpoint’s commitment to providing organizations with people-centric cybersecurity and compliance solutions that protect what matters: their people and the data they have access to, in a post-perimeter, cloud-first world,” said Gary Steele, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Proofpoint.
“Defending data requires the ability to detect risky insider threat behavior and risky user activity, and swiftly mitigate risk across cloud apps, email, and endpoints. We are the only security company that provides organizations with deep visibility into their most attacked people—and with ObserveIT, we will bring to market the first truly innovative enterprise DLP offering in years. We are thrilled to welcome ObserveIT’s employees and customers to Proofpoint.”
Mike McKee, CEO of ObserveIT, said that Proofpoint’s leadership in people-centric cybersecurity, broader intelligence and R&D resources “are significant market differentiators and directly complement our ability to quickly detect insider threats and prevent critical information loss.”
McKee added: “We are very excited to join the Proofpoint team and provide customers with even more powerful solutions to mitigate insider threats, decrease incident investigation time, and make sure users don’t intentionally or accidentally send valuable, confidential information externally.”