Proofpoint has taken a big step to strengthen its malware and threat response by agreeing to spend approximately $40 million/€35,765,000 to acquire Emerging Threats, a company that provides Threat Intelligence services to many locations around the world.
The technology will be integrated into the Targeted Attack Protection and Threat Response services in order to provide more useful information that can be used for detecting and preventing advanced cyber attacks.
Emerging Threats was founded in 2003, establishing itself in the field of malware detection. The data collected through its systems is processed to provide a broader basis for threat analysis.
The IQRisk suite contains multiple components (ETPro Ruleset, IQRisk Rep List and IQRisk Query) that protect against data exfiltration, exploits, malicious software or phishing.
In addition to this, the company maintains a reputation list of IPs and domains that can be integrated into firewall to separate connections that pose a risk from those that are safe.
Emerging Threats collects millions of malware samples and threat indicators on a daily basis, using the database to gain insights into the distribution of a malicious program and the command & control server infrastructure used by cybercriminals.
In addition, the company maintains the IDS/IPS ruleset and ETOpen Ruleset, which are relied upon by over 20,000 organizations worldwide. More than 200,000 users download the ruleset for Suricata, Snort and other IDS (intrusion detection systems) every day.
The acquisition by Proofpoint is not going to affect Emerging Threats' relationship with its existing customers and its operations are expected to continue as usual. However, this move means that the company's research will benefit from larger investments, leading to increased development capabilities.
The definitive agreement between the two companies has been signed for $40 million, representing both cash and stock. Proofpoint's share price reached $57.07, noting a small increase of $0.43 (0.76%).
