CrowdStrike to acquire application security management startup Bionic

Cyber security provider CrowdStrike has agreed to acquire Israeli application security posture management (ASPM) startup Bionic.

The addition will extend the company’s cloud native application protection platform (CNAPP) with ASPM tools to provide users with comprehensive risk visibility and protection across the cloud estate, including applications and services.

Announcing the move at its Fal.Con 2023 event in Las Vegas, CrowdStrike said the acquisition will make it the first cyber security company to offer complete code-to-runtime cloud security through a single unified platform.

“The cloud is cyber security’s new battleground, yet the industry’s answer to-date has been disjointed point security tools or ‘platforms’ with multiple consoles and agents,” said George Kurtz, CrowdStrike co-founder and CEO. “We are delivering what customers need: Modern protection to address cloud security risk comprehensively, through one unified platform. 

“We pioneered cyber security for the cloud era, and the addition of Bionic further extends our cloud security leadership on our mission of stopping breaches. Bionic shares our passion for customer-focused innovation and will make a great addition to the CrowdStrike team.”

CrowdStrike said it plans to offer Bionic ASPM as an independent offering as well as fully integrated as a capability of Falcon Cloud Security, which forms part of its wider Falcon platform.

Bionic will extend Falcon’s agent-based and agentless protection of cloud infrastructure by providing visibility into application behavior and vulnerability prioritization for both server-based and serverless infrastructure.

CrowdStrike said Bionic’s real-time application visibility will help facilitate the discovery and mapping of application services, databases, microservices, third-parties, APIs, and data flows across cloud service providers, as well as both hybrid and on-premises application deployments. The offering removes the requirement for sensitive source code access, with applications automatically deconstructed while seamlessly integrating with CI/CD pipelines.

Users can also leverage the solution to instantly prioritize application-level vulnerabilities, as well as gain complete visibility into serverless infrastructure such as Azure Functions and AWS Lambda.

Bionic was founded in 2019 and now has a team of around 100 employees based at its offices in Tel Aviv and Palo Alto, all of whom are expected to join CrowdStrike.  Company CEO Idan Ninyo said the firm was founded with the sole aim of providing complete visibility into application risk. 

“We have built a ‘Google Maps for your apps’, delivering a complete picture of application security risk in a truly frictionless way that does not interfere with the development process,” he said. 

“CrowdStrike has taken the mantle as the modern cyber security platform of choice and the company to beat in the cloud security market. Its strength and scale as a market leader and innovator will help us dramatically accelerate the adoption of ASPM by every business and organization on the planet.”

CrowdStrike did not reveal the cost of the acquisition but said the purchase price would be paid predominantly in cash, with a portion delivered in the form of stock. 

The acquisition is expected to close during the company’s fiscal third quarter, subject to customary closing conditions.