10 Jan Google invests in first stage of cyber investment with purchase of security specialist Siemplify

Technology giants Google have taken the first step in their long-term security plans as they complete the purchase of Israeli company Siemplify.

Siemplify has built a reputation for its specialism within security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR). Google has not disclosed the purchase price for the company, but it’s expected to be in the region of $500m.

The purchase of the company forms part of Google’s plans for deep security development, which they previously pledged in August 2021.

Google has previously announced plans to fold Siemplify’s platform into the Google Cloud Chronicle service and to build a stronger foundation for its cyber security services proposition.

In previous statements, Google said that unifying SOAR capabilities with Chronicle’s security analytics toolset was an important step forward in a larger vision to build an “intuitive, efficient, security operations workflow around planet-scale security telemetry” that realises the goal of a “modern threat management stack” that “empowers customers to go beyond typical security event and information management [SIEM] and extended detection and response [XDR] tooling”. It hopes this will help customers better detect and respond to cyber threats.

Sunil Potti, Google Cloud Security vice-president and general manager, said: “In a time when cyber attacks are rapidly growing in both frequency and sophistication, there’s never been a better time to bring these two companies together.

“We both share the belief that security analysts need to be able to solve more incidents with greater complexity while requiring less effort and less specialised knowledge. With Siemplify, we will change the rules on how organisations hunt, detect and respond to threats.”

Amos Stern, CEO at Siemplify, said: “We’re excited to join Google Cloud and build on the success we’ve had in the market helping companies address growing security threats. Together with Chronicle’s rich security analytics and threat intelligence, we can truly help security professionals transform the security operations centre [SOC] to defend against today’s threats.”

This isn’t the first encounter with a large corporation for Siemplify, who have previously worked with global financial services organisations and large manufacturers as well as managed security service providers. One example of these types of providers includes Oxford-based Longwall Security, which works with the likes of insurance firm Aviva, and high street supermarket chain Co-op.

What does this mean for security in Africa?

African delegates at the upcoming meeting with the UN in New York are expected to review and explore the threats posed by cybercrime, and discuss new ways to strengthen defences as well as working collaboratively with other nations.

With technology giants such as Google making cybercrime one of their key investments and priorities in 2022, it will also be clear that reaction to cyber threats will be a key point on the agenda.

With a focus on SOAR, Google will be aiming to make defence reactions to threats work at scale and speed – something the UN meeting is also looking to explore by evaluating past treaties.