Cisco to bolster multi-cloud security with Valtix acquisition

Connectivity giant Cisco has announced its intent to acquire cloud-native network security startup Valtix in a move that will boost its security portfolio.

Expected to close by the end of Cisco’s third quarter, Valtix’s team will join the Security Business Group, integrating its multi-cloud platform into Cisco’s Security Cloud portfolio. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Announcing the move, Cisco Security’s senior vice president and chief product officer Raj Chopra highlighted the issue of visibility across modern enterprise cloud setups.

“When we think about today’s enterprise infrastructures, at their core, they comprise a few elements: multiple public clouds (primarily, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure) and clusters of private clouds,” he said. “The security controls that govern these disparate clouds, however, work in isolation.

“These siloes create an issue with visibility, which in turn leads to an issue of efficacy (you can’t protect what you can’t see), which creates a substantial operational burden for security teams.”

However, the network stitches all of this together, Chopra added. “It is the one place that sees all the traffic that flows between applications and from applications to users, and therefore, is the only place where you have the visibility, telemetry, and policy enforcement needed for consolidated, consistent security.”

What is Cisco Security Cloud?

Cisco’s Security Cloud takes that principle and places it at the core of its security vision. Designed for organisations of any size, it provides a global, cloud-delivered, integrated networking and security platform for automated security.

Essentially, the offering helps protect businesses’ entire ecosystems from the ever-increasing threat of malware, ransomware, phishing, as well as social engineering. With its own multi-cloud focus, Chopra said Valtix was an ideal match for Cisco’s overarching Security Cloud vision.

What is Valtix?

Founded in 2018, California-based Valtix specialises in multi-cloud network security, providing an agile, as-a-service platform to help cloud teams meet stringent security requirements.

The offering unifies teams and clouds with a single visibility and control plane, and its solutions are designed to complement key enterprise compliance and security initiatives, Valtix says.

The company has previously been funded by investors such as Trinity, Vertex – and even Cisco itself. In fact, back in early 2021, Valtix successfully closed a $12.5 million strategic funding round from Cisco Investments, Northgate Capital, and TSG to help drive market uptake of its platform.

“As a strategic investor in Valtix since 2020, Cisco supports Valtix’s commitment to simplify network security, protecting workloads no matter which cloud they are created or consumed in,” Chopra said. “With their cloud-native, easy-to-use control plane, they enable customers with common policy and enforcements of networking across all major public cloud environments.

“We look forward to welcoming the Valtix team and working together to accelerate the Cisco Security Cloud.”