CrowdStrike Acquires Adaptive Shield for Enhanced SaaS Security

In a significant move to fortify its cybersecurity offerings, CrowdStrike, a NASDAQ-listed leader in endpoint and cloud security, has announced its acquisition of Adaptive Shield, an Israeli startup specializing in SaaS security. This acquisition, unveiled at CrowdStrike's Fal.Con Europe event in Amsterdam, aims to position the company as a pioneer in providing end-to-end protection against identity-based attacks across the entire modern cloud ecosystem.

The deal, reportedly worth around $300 million, will see CrowdStrike integrating Adaptive Shield capabilities into its Falcon cybersecurity platform. This integration is expected to close during CrowdStrike's fiscal fourth quarter, subject to customary closing conditions, with the purchase price being predominantly in cash and a portion in stock subject to vesting conditions.

Cloud exploitation cases have surged by 110% over the past year, highlighting the escalating challenge of identity-based attacks, which now account for 75% of initial access strategies in cyber-attacks. SaaS applications, with their shared responsibility models and fragmented security controls, have become prime targets for sophisticated attacks. CrowdStrike's acquisition of Adaptive Shield addresses these growing threats by offering comprehensive SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) and enhancing visibility across more than 150 SaaS applications.

Adaptive Shield specializes in securing SaaS identities, misconfigurations, and data exposures, ensuring that organizations can enforce consistent security standards, control AI settings to prevent data leakage, and identify shadow AI applications. By integrating these capabilities into CrowdStrike's Falcon platform, customers will benefit from comprehensive identity protection across SaaS, on-premises Active Directory, and cloud-based environments like Okta and Microsoft Entra ID.

This merger will introduce GenAI Application Security Control to the Falcon platform, allowing organizations to enforce stringent security standards for AI-integrated SaaS applications. This feature is crucial in mitigating risks associated with configuration drifts and shadow AI applications, ensuring that AI-integrated applications remain aligned with security policies to protect sensitive data.

CrowdStrike's CEO and founder, George Kurtz, emphasized the company's commitment to tackling modern cybersecurity challenges. He noted that the acquisition aligns perfectly with CrowdStrike's mission to deliver best-in-class SaaS protection from the Falcon platform. Adaptive Shield's technology will enhance CrowdStrike's capabilities in:

Adaptive Shield's existing integration with CrowdStrike's next-generation SIEM system will accelerate detection and response across multiple security domains, including endpoints, identities, workloads, and applications. This integration will provide rapid first-party detection and response, automatically correlating detections with the latest threat intelligence and delivering near real-time response.

CrowdStrike President Michael Sentonas highlighted Adaptive Shield as an essential piece of the company's cloud security vision. He stated that the acquisition would enable CrowdStrike to provide organizations with granular visibility into their growing cloud environments, manage and secure SaaS security posture, and detect and prevent identity-centric, cloud-focused cyberattacks.

Founded in 2019, Adaptive Shield has made strides in securing SaaS environments through its comprehensive SSPM technology. This acquisition has been described as a perfect fit by both CrowdStrike and Adaptive Shield leadership. Adaptive Shield's CEO and co-founder, Maor Bin, emphasized the alignment of their mission with CrowdStrike's objectives, stating that the two companies would work together to stop SaaS breaches while accelerating consolidation on cybersecurity's most comprehensive platform.

The acquisition of Adaptive Shield by CrowdStrike marks a strategic move to address the growing complexity and risks associated with SaaS and AI adoption. By integrating Adaptive Shield's capabilities, CrowdStrike aims to set the standard for identity-based protection in the cloud, offering its customers a unified platform for securing modern cloud environments. This move not only strengthens CrowdStrike's position in the cybersecurity market but also ensures that organizations can effectively safeguard their SaaS applications against the ever-evolving landscape of cyber threats.

Visit our website to get cybersecurity updates like this, thesecmaster.com, and our social media page on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Telegram, Tumblr, Medium, and Instagram and subscribe to receive tips like this.  

You may also like these articles: