Palo Alto Networks has agreed to acquire Israeli identity-security specialist CyberArk for $25B which marks the largest acquisition yet by Palo Alto with this deal taking their total acquisition spree to $33 billion since 2018.
Why are Palo Alto buying CyberArk?
With hackers increasingly weaponising AI and machine identities, rapid detection and shutting down privileged-access breaches has never been more mission-critical.
CyberArk, which has more than 10,000 customers globally, features advanced PIM (privileged access management) which locks down which users and service accounts can access sensitive data and systems. Integrating CyberArk lets Palo Alto pitch an end-to-end portfolio that secures human users, system accounts and and AI “agents” users.
Identity and security are converging highlighting the need for a true Identity Security platform said Palo Alto said in their press release. They they aim to deliver Identity Security for agentic AI to secure the new wave of autonomous AI agents by providing foundational controls for this emerging class of privileged identities. They say this will provide their customers with the optimal combination of best of breed technology and integrated platforms to deliver near real-time security outcomes.
Security vendors betting big on AI Defence
Just last year (in 2024) Palo Alto acquired IBM’s QRadar SaaS assets and IP for $1.1B and then spent $700 million on startup Protect AI, beefing up their AI-centric threat-hunting tools.
It’s not just Palo either. Google have acquired Wiz for $32 billion, and last year Cisco closed its $28B Splunk deal in 2024, underscoring that cybersecurity scale and AI readiness are critical to growth, protection for their customers and necessary to defend against the AI powered bad actors!
Identity security is at its inflection point. Every identity—human or machine—requires the right privilege controls. The rise of AI only magnifies this need.
Reflection
This is another huge acquisition in the security space showing how the industry giants continue to get bigger and bolder with eye watering acquisitions. This is the AI Security race.
It will be interesting to see what other acquisitions are in the cards this year from the other security giants.
I wouldn’t be suprised if we see more acquisitions from Cisco, Forinet, Juniper (HPE) and Microsoft in this space.