Mandiant, which offers incident response and general security consulting, would help Google's cloud customers combat an increasing number of cybersecurity challenges, the company said in its announcement. If the acquisition goes through, Mandiant would also add to Google's suite of cybersecurity services including BeyondCorp Enterprise, VirusTotal and others.
“Organizations around the world are facing unprecedented cybersecurity challenges as the sophistication and severity of attacks that were previously used to target major governments are now being used to target companies in every industry,” Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said in the announcement. “We look forward to welcoming Mandiant to Google Cloud to further enhance our security operations suite and advisory services, and help customers address their most important security challenges.”
“There has never been a more critical time in cybersecurity," Mandiant CEO Kevin Mandia added in the announcement. "Since our founding in 2004, Mandiant’s mission has been to combat cyber attacks and protect our customers from the latest threats."
Rumors about the acquisition began before the Google's announcement on Tuesday. Shares of Mandiant closed up 16% Monday, shortly after The Information first reported that Google wanted to buy the company. Bids for Mandiant were due late last month, according to The Information.
Mandiant is known for discovering the SolarWinds attack in late 2020. The company found that the hack may have been happening for close to a year before it was uncovered. Mandiant was bought by FireEye in 2013 but became a standalone firm last year.
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