Wiz is acquiring cloud security company Gem Security. Although the amount was not disclosed, the acquisition cost Wiz $350 million, according to insiders.
Gem Security appeared on the scene in February 2023. It announced it was the first to be able to deliver cloud TDIR (Threat Detection & Incident Response), which fills an important gap in the security of cloud environments. This area of expertise is also referred to as CDR (Cloud Detection & Response). The Gem founders met at Israeli Intelligence Unit 8200 and discovered in this setting that new tools were needed for cloud security work.
Gem’s agentless solution focuses on visibility into cloud environments so that this infrastructure can be monitored in the same way as on-prem. As Gem itself points out, there is plenty to protect: the company points to the examples of key management systems, serverless functions, and identity and access management.
Wiz extends CNAPP with CDR
Gem Security is only the second party to be acquired by Wiz. In December, the latter bought developer platform Raftt. This time around, Wiz plans to expand its own offerings by integrating Gem’s technology. Specifically, it focuses on the existing Cloud Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP) that Wiz already offers.
While that platform is agentless and promises visibility, Gem’s solution should take it to the next level. Wiz CEO Assaf Rappaport points out that his company is now combining the skills of the leading CDR player with the CNAPP solution that it already has in-house. It is part of the broader consolidation that Rappaport describes as “the future of the security industry.”
Either way, acquisitions provide opportunities for security players to fill gaps in their offerings. SentinelOne, for example, bought PingSafe in early January to acquire its CNAPP solution. We pointed out at the time that this can be quite an interpretable concept, as there are many differences between the promised features of Palo Alto Networks, CrowdStrike, Wiz and Orca Security, for example.
Read more: SentinelOne acquires PingSafe and takes big step in cloud security
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There is no word on how many Gem employees will work for Wiz. However, Gem’s three founders will become part of the Wiz executive team.
It is Wiz’s next step as a rising star in the security world. Calcalis Tech reminds us that Wiz now serves 40 percent of Fortune 100 companies and generates $350 million a year in revenue. That annual revenue is now getting turned into a further deepening of the Wiz offering with the Gem acquisition.
Tip: CrowdStrike Falcon XDR now integrates with Rubrik Security Cloud