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04 Jul 16. Accenture acquires Israel-based cybersecurity firm Maglan. Maglan Information Defense & Intelligence Group was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Tzur Yigal, Israel, with its EU base of operations in Milan, Italy. The firm provides a range of cybersecurity based offerings to private and government clients around the world in the areas of information defense, information security, auditing, consulting, industrial espionage countermeasures, network intelligence, cyber warfare, computer forensic and penetration testing, among others.
Accenture’s acquisition of the firm significantly expands on its expertise in the area of cybersecurity, as the competition among consultancy firms in the segment begins to heat up. The deal, in addition, aims to further boost Israel’s place as a cybersecurity innovation hub, as well as its own set of offerings to clients through the addition of the Maglan’s specialised tools and methodologies.
The acquisition will be integrated into Accenture’s Cyber Fusion Centre in Israel, which is part of a wider set of centres aimed at providing the firm’s clients with a ‘one-stop-shop’ of offerings for their strategic consultancy and security requirements.
“The growing variety and velocity of cyber attacks today cannot be eliminated with standard off-the-shelf solutions,” says Omar Abbosh, Chief Strategy Officer, Accenture. “Tackling the security problem from the perspective of the hacker is the name of the game. That’s why we are actively pioneering fundamentally differentiated approaches to cyber attack simulation, threat modelling, cyber investigations and security risk advisory services. With this acquisition, we are now able to further tailor services to our clients’ ever-changing security needs.”
“Whether due to spear phishing, malware or ransomware or a combination, the sophistication in attack vectors and cyber espionage is increasing,” says Shai Blitzblau, Maglan President and co-founder. “For nearly two decades, we have built robust security R&D capabilities and helped organisations across a broad range of industries adopt active cyber intelligent-driven approaches to address the rapidly evolving threat landscape and defensive mechanism. We are excited to join forces with Accenture worldwide, and to work with its cyber team here in Israel and across its network of Cyber Fusion Centres.”
Cyber security has been a hot topic recently as the scale of cybercrime increases and its impact becomes more expensive. In the battle for talent and capability in the space, Accenture recently poached Kelly Bissell from Deloitte and has acquired five firms within the space of several months, including FusionX, Cimation and Endgame.
In March another Israeli firm, NICE systems, hit an alliance with a consulting firm: BCG. (Source: Hawker Chase/consultancy.uk)
06 Jul 16. Cybersecurity start-up Darktrace raises $65m backed by KKR. Darktrace, a U.K. cybersecurity firm that positions its software as the “human immune system” for networks, has raised $65m in a funding round led by U.S. private equity giant KKR, the start-up said on Wednesday.
Existing investor Summit Partners contributed while new investors TenEleven Ventures and SoftBank joined the round. The British start-up is also backed by Autonomy founder Mike Lynch’s Invoke Capital and London-based venture capital firm Hoxton Ventures.
Darktrace’s solution sits in the middle of an organization’s computer network and can detect cyber-threats in real-time, allowing the company’s security team or the software to take action to protect the system.
The start-up has been developing its machine learning capabilities – advanced algorithms that can adapt and learn. Darktrace says that its mach