Cybersecurity firm Proofpoint on Tuesday announced that it has agreed to acquire Wombat Security Technologies for $255 million in cash.
Wombat, which helps companies educate employees on the dangers of phishing attacks and how to avoid them, grew out of a research project at Carnegie Mellon University in 2008.
The purchase of Wombat is the second acquisition north of $100 million by Proofpoint in recent months. Proofpoint also acquired messaging security firm Cloudmark in November 2017 for $110 million in cash.
Best known for its email security offerings, Proofpoint says the acquisition will help its customers use data from active phishing campaigns for simulations.
The company explains that by integrating Wombat’s technology with Proofpoint’s threat detection and intelligence, enterprises will have insights into their employees’ vulnerability to the real phishing attacks that strike every day.
“Because threat actors target employees as the weakest link, companies need to continuously train employees and arm them with real-time threat data,” said Gary Steele, Proofpoint CEO. “The acquisition of Wombat gives us greater ability to help protect our customers from today’s people-centric cyberattacks, as cybercriminals look for new ways to exploit the human factor. We are thrilled to welcome Wombat’s employees to the Proofpoint team.”
The integrated solution will become part of Proofpoint’s advanced email solution suite, and is scheduled to be available in the first half of 2018.
The agreement is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2018, Proofpoint said.
Following the acquisition, Proofpoint expects Wombat will increase its 2018 revenue range by $30 – $32 million, and increase the free cash flow range by $2 million for the year.
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For more than 10 years, Mike Lennon has been closely monitoring the threat landscape and analyzing trends in the National Security and enterprise cybersecurity space. In his role at SecurityWeek, he oversees the editorial direction of the publication and is the Director of several leading security industry conferences around the world.
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