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Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Prediction: Wiz Will Be a Game-Changing Acquisition for Alphabet
After trying and failing to acquire Wiz last year, Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) has reached a deal to buy the fast-growing cybersecurity company. It is paying a steep price of $32 billion, up from the the $23 billion it offered last year. It will also pay Wiz employees $1 billion in retention bonuses. Wiz backed out of the deal last year over antitrust concerns, but expects a more favorable environment under the Trump administration. In my view, this deal looks like a game changer for Alphabet. Let's examine why. The acquisition of Wiz adds yet another strong business to Alphabet. While best known for its Google search engine, Alphabet actually has a strong collection of market-leading and emerging businesses. It's the leading digital advertiser in the world, where it not only serves ads for Google, but for its other properties and third-party sites as well. Its YouTube streaming service is the most watched streaming platform in the U.S. and the fourth-largest digital advertising platform in the world. It owns the world's third-largest cloud computing company in Google Cloud, which has been its fastest-growing segment. It has also taken leading positions in emerging technologies such as quantum computing and autonomous driving with its Waymo unit. Wiz only adds to Alphabet's collection of leading tech businesses and further highlights that Alphabet is much more than search. In addition, it is purchasing a fast-growing company in a booming field. Wiz is a leader in cloud detection and response (CDR) security, where its Cloud Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP) uses artificial intelligence (AI) to quickly scan and identify vulnerabilities across the cloud environment. Its platform connects to every cloud environment and covers every aspect of cloud security. It's also been developing new products as it continues to innovate. Two launched in the past year include a code-to-cloud security solution called Wiz Code, and a detection and response solution for SecOps (security operation) teams called Wiz Defend. This should help the company grow with its existing customer base over time as it adds more solution modules. Wiz counts the three biggest cloud computing companies -- Google Cloud, Amazon's AWS, and Microsoft's Azure -- among its customers, as well as half of the Fortune 100. Large enterprise customers include Morgan Stanley, BMW, and LVMH. Following the acquisition, Wiz will continue to partner with all cloud computing companies. However, owning Wiz should be a big boost to Alphabet's Google Cloud unit. It will strengthen Google Cloud's security offerings and should help differentiate it from the competition. Meanwhile, Alphabet will be able to sell Wiz's products into its large base of Google Cloud customers, as well. Google Cloud has been Alphabet's fastest-growing segment, with revenue climbing 30% last quarter and segment operating income soaring 142%. Wiz should only increase the attractiveness of its cloud offering, given its strong reputation as a cloud cybersecurity provider. Cybersecurity threats are not slowing, and with the growth of cloud computing and AI, this deal helps set Alphabet apart. The Wiz deal, assuming it closes, will be the largest in Alphabet's history. It's paying a hefty price tag believed to be around 60 times Wiz's 2024 annual recurring revenue of $500 million in 2024. However, Wiz has a very strong platform that is growing quickly, and Alphabet should be able to accelerate growth given its large installed Google Cloud customer base. The deal should also help make Google Cloud more attractive to potential enterprise customers. This could help bolster growth not just from selling Wiz solutions, but from attracting new customers to Google Cloud. Alphabet has done very well with acquisitions in the past, most notably with YouTube, which it acquired in 2006 for $1.65 billion. At the time, YouTube was an unprofitable start-up facing copyright concerns. It was also Alphabet's largest-ever acquisition when the deal closed. Last quarter alone, YouTube generated $10.5 billion in revenue. Together with its early acquisition of cybersecurity company Mandiant, a leading cyber threat intelligence company, Alphabet is creating a world-class cybersecurity business. This just adds another growth lever to the company. Given its growing array of top-notch businesses, Alphabet's stock is just way too cheap, trading at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of under 18 times 2025 analysts' estimates. Alphabet looks like a great buy at current levels, and once the dust from the market sell-off clears, investors should start to realize the extremely valuable set of assets the company has collected. The Wiz acquisition just adds to these strong businesses and should be a big growth driver in the years ahead. Ever feel like you missed the boat in buying the most successful stocks? Then you'll want to hear this. On rare occasions, our expert team of analysts issues a 'Double Down' stock recommendation for companies that they think are about to pop. If you're worried you've already missed your chance to invest, now is the best time to buy before it's too late. And the numbers speak for themselves: Nvidia: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2009, you'd have $304,759!* Apple: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2008, you'd have $40,808!* Netflix: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2004, you'd have $517,445!* Right now, we're issuing 'Double Down' alerts for three incredible companies, and there may not be another chance like this anytime soon.*Stock Advisor returns as of March 18, 2025 John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Alphabet and LVMH Moët Hennessy-Louis Vuitton. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Prediction: Wiz Will Be a Game-Changing Acquisition for Alphabet was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
Associated Press
10-02-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Prudent Insurance Brokers Partners with AccuKnox for Zero Trust Application, Cloud, and AI Security
Prudent Insurance Brokers Partners with AccuKnox for Zero Trust Application, Cloud, and AI Security 'We conducted an in-depth proof of concept (POC) with several top-tier vendors over an extended period, and Accuknox excelled in all areas. We are pleased to embark on this partnership with AccuKnox' — Manoj Kern, CIO, Prudent Insurance Brokers MENLO PARK, CA, UNITED STATES, February 10, 2025 / / -- AccuKnox, Inc., a leading provider of Zero Trust CNAPP (Cloud Native Application Protection Platform) with a highly differentiated capability to address advanced attacks using its run-time security engine. AccuKnox integrated ASPM/CNAPP solution provides the industry's most comprehensive Code to Cloud; Build security. AccuKnox is an integrated platform that is made up of the following modules: This platform secures modern Cloud, natively integrates to CI/CD for DevSecOps and VM security with a special focus on automation and prioritization. AccuKnox streamlines vulnerability triage minimizes alert fatigue problems, and delivers inline security capabilities as opposed to post-attack mitigation. Use Cases Quick Org Onboarding with Risk Assessment Detect critical issues in your Multi-cloud Detect Compliance Posture across 30+ compliance Automated Zero Trust Cloud Security (Public, Private, Hybrid, Air-gapped) Vulnerability Management & Prioritization Run-time security, Micro-segmentation Application Firewalling, Kernel Hardening Drift Detection & Audit Trail Continuous Diagnostics & Mitigation GRC – CIS, HIPAA, GDPR, SOC2, STIG, MITRE, NIST compliance Securing Mission-Critical Workloads like Vault Securing AI workbenches like Jupyter Notebooks AccuKnox CNAPP offers the following Key Differentiators Inline Security (as opposed to Post-attack security) Secures modern workloads (Kubernetes) and traditional workloads (VMs) Multi-Cloud, Private, Air-gapped Cloud Security KIEM – Kubernetes Identity & Entitlement Management IAC – Infrastructure As Code scanning ASPM – Ability to perform checks in CI pipeline (DAST, SAST, SCA) AskADA – LLM-powered DevSecOps ModelKnox – AI/ML Security Supporting Quotes 'We are thrilled to partner with a leader like Prudent Insurance and support them in securing their Applications, Cloud, and AI/Models and support them in their path towards market leadership. Their vision is of a Platform approach to Application and Cloud Security is in alignment with other industry leaders. Such an approach reduces the attack surface, decreases operating expenses, and delivers better security outcomes. ', said Nat Natraj, CEO, of AccuKnox. 'At Prudent, we advocate for a comprehensive end-to-end methodology in application and cloud security. This approach emphasizes automation and prioritization while enhancing collaboration across teams. Adopting a consolidated security framework strengthens our capabilities to deliver robust protection that aligns with our business objectives. Recently, we conducted an in-depth proof of concept (POC) with several top-tier vendors over an extended period, and Accuknox excelled in all areas. Their integrated offering, which combines application security posture management (ASPM), vulnerability prioritization, cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP), run-time security and Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC), clearly established them as the leading choice. Accuknox's AI-assisted remediation module further solidified their position as a clear winner. We are pleased to embark on this partnership with them', said Manoj Kern, CIO, Prudent Insurance Brokers. About AccuKnox AccuKnox provides a Zero Trust CNAPP Security platform that secures Public Clouds, Private Clouds, Edge/IoT & 5G assets. AccuKnox is funded by leading Cyber Security Investors like National Grid Partners, MDSV, Avanta Venture Partners, Dolby Family Ventures, DreamIT Ventures, 5G Open Innovation Lab, and Seedop. AccuKnox was formed in partnership with SRI International (previously Stanford Research Institute) and has seminal patents on different aspects of Zero Trust security. Nat Natraj +1 5105798785 X LinkedIn YouTube Legal Disclaimer:
