• Google has signed an agreement to acquire the cyber forensics and incident response firm Mandiant (formerly FireEye) for USD 5.4 billion (USD 23 per share). This marks Google’s second-largest acquisition following Motorola Mobility (USD 12.5 billion). The transaction is expected to close later this year and Mandiant will join Google Cloud upon the close of the acquisition.

• Founded in 2004, Mandiant provides security consultancy and cyber defense solutions through its extended detection and response (XDR) platform Mandiant Advantage. Mandiant has more than 600 security consultants and over 300 threat intelligence analysts responding to thousands of breaches every year. The company has uncovered multiple cybersecurity incidents, namely the SolarWinds Orion security breach, Microsoft Exchange server vulnerability, Log4j vulnerability, and Pulse Secure VPN vulnerability.

• The acquisition will enhance Google Cloud’s existing security solutions with an end-to-end security operations suite combining Mandiant’s advisory services, threat detection and intelligence, automation and response, security testing and validation, and managed detection and response (MDR) capabilities for customers across the cloud and on-premise environments.

• Google provides security analytics and operations, security and resilience framework, and web app and API protection (WAAP) solutions through its Cloud platform. It protects against ransomware, network anomalies, fraud, and other threats. Google Cloud Chronicle delivers threat detection, investigation, and identification. Google Cloud also provides incident response, strategic advisory, and threat intelligence expertise through its Cybersecurity Action Team.

• According to the report, Google is doubling down on cybersecurity following the rise in cyberattacks and cyber warfare, resulting from the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. 

<ul><li> Analyst QuickTake: The Mandiant acquisition follows a rumored deal between Google and Mandiant. This acquisition indicates a further consolidation of Google’s cybersecurity business, as it just wrapped up a deal to acquire Siemplify for USD 500 million in January 2022 for security orchestration automation and response (SOAR) capabilities.</ul>