The company is currently in negotiations to acquire the cloud cybersecurity startup Wiz, which is based in New York City.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Google is contemplating investing $23 billion in acquiring Wiz, a cloud cybersecurity startup that has partnerships with Amazon and Oracle. It would be the highest amount Google has ever paid for another company, nearly double what it paid for Motorola Mobility in 2012.
According to the company, Wiz, based in New York City, provides “siloed security tools and scanners” for enterprise environments. Wiz states that it safeguards corporate cloud infrastructure “by establishing a standardizing barrier across cloud environments,” enabling businesses to “quickly detect and eliminate significant threats.” Purchasing this type of company seems to be directed specifically towards a Microsoft that appears more vulnerable, having recently experienced several well-known security breaches.
The acquisition attempt was primarily led by Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian, as reported by The New York Times. If it is successful, it could enhance Google’s image as a trustworthy cloud platform. That appeared to be the reasoning behind its acquisition of a cloud security startup for 500 million dollars in 2022 and the purchase of Mandiant for 5.4 billion dollars, the firm that uncovered the SolarWinds breach in the same year.
The Times suggests the deal is probable, but there is a chance it may not happen and could lead to scrutiny from US regulators. During the Biden administration, there have been important antitrust actions such as the Department of Justice’s legal action against Google’s Search agreement with Apple and the Federal Trade Commission’s unsuccessful attempt to prevent Microsoft from acquiring Activision.
