Cisco adds to cybersecurity service with acquisition of Kenna Security

Vendor says the move will improve collaboration and help customers find threats faster

Cisco has announced its intention to acquire risk-based vulnerability management firm Kenna Security to bolster its cybersecurity offering.

The California-based company uses machine learning and data science to track and predict possible cyber risks and will "empower security teams to manage the ever-evolving threat landscape", Cisco says.

The vendor adds that the acquisition will advance its "commitment to radically simplify security and help customers improve their security posture" by helping them to find threats faster.

"Hybrid work is here to stay, and the increasing complexity of cybersecurity is our customers' biggest challenge," Jeetu Patel, senior vice president and general manager, Cisco Security and Collaboration said.

"We must radically simplify security to stay ahead of the evolving threat landscape. Our goal is to unify all critical control points into a single platform.

"With the addition of Kenna Security, we will fundamentally strengthen our platform experience by giving customers the ability to prioritise vulnerabilities based on a robust risk methodology that is tuned to their unique needs."

The move will see the vulnerability management capabilities of Kenna Security added to Cisco's threat intelligence platform SecureX, which Cisco says will "improve collaboration between security and IT teams and ultimately reduce the attack surface".

Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed but the deal is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2021.

"Cisco is on a mission to reshape the way we think about security, and together we have a unique opportunity to fundamentally transform how organisations effectively manage risk at scale," Karim Toubba, CEO of Kenna Security, said.

"As malicious actors continue to evolve their methods, we need to make it easier than ever for customers to predict, detect, prioritise and respond to the security threats that matter.

"The breadth and scale of Cisco coupled with Kenna Security's mastery of machine-learning and data science will reshape how the entire industry addresses cyber risk."