Cisco Acquires Isovalent to Bolster Cloud Computing Security

Cisco Systems Inc. is buying Isovalent, an open-source multi-cloud security provider. The latter is also a known Cilium project creator, and the former is acquiring it to boost its security cloud.

This deal followed shortly after Cisco agreed to buy Splunk for $28 billion. The San Jose, California-based tech firm said on Thursday, Dec. 21, that it is acquiring Isovalent to strengthen its networking security capabilities in the cloud.

Terms and Other Details of the Agreement

As per Cybersecurity Dive, Cisco did not mention how much it would pay to acquire Isovalent. Instead, it only said it expects to complete the deal by April next year.

Once Cisco acquires Isovalent, it will be able to use the open-source networking and security tools that are also being utilized in Amazon and Google's Kubernetes offerings. It was learned that the company is one of the early investors in Isovalent, so they already had a connection before the negotiation. Isovalent's technologies will make it easier for users to solve complicated, cloud-native networking and security challenges.

Cisco's Investment to Upgrade Its Security Cloud Even More

Cisco's acquisition of Isovalent is already its 11th deal this year alone. This shows how the company wants to improve further and offer the best services to its clients.

The latest deal follows the company's announcement in September, stating its plans to buy another security platform, Splunk. It was said that the acquisitions are part of Cisco's larger cloud security strategy for its Security Cloud, which the company formed to provide customers with cloud-delivered, AI-driven, and integrated security tenets for organizations of all sizes.

"Together with Isovalent, Cisco will build on the open source power of Cilium to create a truly unique multi-cloud security and networking capability to help customers simplify and accelerate their digital transformation journeys," Cisco's executive vice president and general manager of security and collaboration, Jeetu Patel, said in a press release. "Imagine in today's distributed environment - of applications, virtual machines, containers and cloud assets having security controls with total visibility, without hindering networking and application performance. The combination of Cisco and Isovalent will make this a reality."

In a separate statement, Thomas Graf, co-founder and chief technology officer, and Dan Wendlandt, co-founder and CEO at Isovalent, also commented, "As we learned more about Cisco's strategy and plan, we got more and more excited about the joint vision of continuing to build out our amazing team around eBPF, Cilium, and our open source projects."

Lastly, the executives added that they are excited about the shared vision of Cisco and Isovalent and what is up ahead for Cilium and Tetragon. Graf and Wenlandt said they are looking forward to pushing on with their eBPF journey as part of Cisco to offer their technology and products to a more extensive customer base.

Photo by: Cisco Press Release