Forcepoint, a global leader in data-first security, today announced the company has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Security Service Edge (SSE) leader Bitglass.
Bitglass delivers the industry’s only truly integrated cloud-native SSE platform for securing access to and usage of information as organizations transform to the cloud.
It brings together best-in-class Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), Secure Web Gateway (SWG), Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), and Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM), combined with Data Loss Prevention (DLP) capabilities to enable uniform security policies for accessing the web, cloud, and private data centers managed through a single console.
Bitglass’s SSE platform complements Forcepoint’s Data-first SASE architecture and will accelerate Forcepoint’s efforts to make advanced data security and threat protection technologies easier for organizations to deploy and use.
The company’s SSE platform is specifically designed to take full advantage of modern hyperscalers. It goes beyond simply being accessible on the internet, dynamically scaling up to handle growing loads and provide the resilience customers need for ensuring always-on access to applications and data. Over the past five years, Bitglass has continuously delivered 99.99% availability, ensuring users can reliably and securely access the resources they need to be productive.
With the return to the office, businesses must adapt to a hybrid work environment—in which people work from home, in an office, or on the road all at the same time. With this shift, security teams are pivoting their focus from workplace security to a workforce security approach centered on securing employees’ access to information everywhere.
In addition, the acceleration of virtual workforces, digital-first selling, service, and customer experience in a perimeter-less enterprise is also driving the need for cloud-based security that can protect people anywhere, technology recognized by Gartner as SSE.
SSE represents the convergence of technologies for securing access to and usage of sensitive data and intellectual property in web and cloud traffic as well as private data center applications.
By unifying security functions, policies and operations that previously were spread across siloed products from different vendors, SSE reduces the complexity of enabling hybrid workforces to safely and efficiently get to and use the breadth of resources they need to be productive.
Forcepoint Chief Executive Officer Manny Rivelo said complexity is the enemy of security. IT teams today are faced with the reality that securing a hybrid work environment is even more complex than the move to work-from-home was last year.
“With the acquisition of Bitglass, Forcepoint will be accelerating our ability to address customers’ widespread need for enabling hybrid workforces to safely access and use information everywhere—in the web, cloud and data center—more easily than ever before,” said Manny Rivelo.
When the average CISO is managing 50+ security products of loosely connected technologies, Manny Rivelo said it’s clear the industry is challenged and needs to change.
“By uniting Bitglass and Forcepoint, we will be able to deliver the industry’s first integrated security platform that transforms and consolidates data security, network, web, and cloud security, threat protection, advanced monitoring, and zero trust control to make access to and usage of information more effective, more reliable and less complex,” said Manny Rivelo.
Further details on the integration of Bitglass within Forcepoint’s Data-first SASE architecture will be announced later this year following completion of the acquisition. To learn more about Forcepoint’s Data-first SASE, please visit https://www.forcepoint.com/use-case/sase-security.
Evercore acted as exclusive financial advisor and Cooley LLP acted as legal advisor to Bitglass. Paul Hastings LLP acted as legal advisor to Forcepoint.
