Forcepoint Acquires Skyfence from Imperva

Forcepoint, the cybersecurity firm created from the $1.9 billion combination of Raytheon and Websense, today announced that it has agreed to acquire the Skyfence business from Imperva. 

Skyfence is a player in the hot cloud access security broker (CASB) market, and provides visibility and control over cloud applications such as NetSuite, Office 365, Salesforce, Workday, Dropbox, G Suite and Box.

SKyfence was originally acquired by Imperva in February 2014.

The acquisition by Forcepoint, which is expected to be complete during the first quarter of 2017, will allow Forcepoint to integrate its web security and data loss prevention (DLP) technologies with Skyfence’s technology to provide customers increased visibility, control and security over cloud applications.

The integration also provides Forcepoint customers greater flexibility in deploying web security via on-premise, hybrid and cloud-based solutions, Forcepoint said.

CASBs, which provide security and visibility for companies moving to the cloud, have experienced rapid growth, with several players in the space being acquired by larger enterprise technology firms.

In June 2016, Cisco announced its intention to acquire CloudLock, a privately held cloud CASB based in Waltham, Massachusetts for $293 million in cash and assumed equity awards. In 2015, Microsoft bought Adallom and turned it into its Cloud App Security service launched in April 2016. In 2014 Imperva bought Skyfence; in 2015, Palo Alto Networks bought CirroSecure; and in November 2015 Blue Coat (since acquired by Symantec) bought Elastica.

Forcepoint previously entered into a licensing arrangement Skyfence in March 2015 that enabled Skyfence’s Cloud App Catalog to be integrated into Forcepoint’s web security gateway products.

Skyfence employees will join the Forcepoint team, with the main Skyfence team remaining to be based in Ramat Gan, Israel, the company said. 

Related: Cisco’s Acquisition of CloudLock Puts Spotlight on CASB Market