Cisco [CSCO] intends to acquire Lancope, Inc., a privately held networks security company, Cisco said Tuesday.
Lancope, based in Alpharetta, Ga., provides network behavior analytics, threat visibility, and security intelligence to help protect companies against cyber security threats.
“Like our customers, Cisco clearly recognizes Lancope’s ability to unlock security intelligence embedded in the network. Our two companies enjoy a shared ideology of the network as the source of truth, and the similarity in our cultures has made this union especially appealing,” Mike Potts, president and CEO of Lancope, said in a company blog post.
“What’s next? We are about to enter an even more expansive chapter in our history of providing network visibility and context aware security analytics with Cisco as a world-class leader behind us! We are very excited for what the future holds, and we look forward to sharing more in the coming months,” Potts added.
Lancope’s premier product is the StealthWatch system, which identifies suspicious traffic patterns inside the network to detect a wide range of attacks. “Through continuous network visibility, specialized threat analysis and protection, Lancope helps customers to monitor, detect, analyze and respond more quickly to modern security threats on enterprise networks,” Cisco said in a statement.
This acquisition will advance Cisco’s Security Everywhere strategy of providing advanced threat protection across the attack continuum (before, during, and after an attack), the company said.
“Cisco is committed to helping organizations defend their networks and devices. Together with Lancope, our combined solutions can help turn a customer’s entire network into a security sensor,” Rob Salvagno, vice president, of Cisco for corporate development, said in a statement.
Cisco also highlighted Lancope has been part of Cisco’s security solutions for years through a commercial relationship, it said in a company blog.
Lancope personnel will join the Cisco Security Business Group organization led by David Groeckeler, senior vice president and general manager, Cisco said. Under the agreement, Cisco will pay $452.5 million in cash and assumed equity awards plus additional retention-based incentives for Lancope employees who join the company.
Cisco’s acquisition of Lancope is subject to regulatory approval and the companies expect that to last until early December, the second quarter of fiscal year 2016.
Lancope is the latest in a series of recent Cisco information security company acquisitions including OpenDNS, Portcullis Computer Security, and Neohapsis.