San Jose – Cisco Systems added one more security entity in its bulging security offerings on Tuesday, June 30, when it acquired a cloud-focused San Francisco startup. The networking giant from San Jose agreed to pay $635 million for acquiring OpenDNS. It also includes an undisclosed future inducement to keep the company’s employees. OpenDNS, an S.F. security company has been in the business for over nine years and boasts to secure 65 million people as they connect with mobile devices, using software delivered online.
OpenDNS offers advanced protection for any device anywhere, anytime. It is a privately held security company based in San Francisco, and its acquisition will give a fillip to Cisco’s Security Everywhere approach. The acquisition will also add broad visibility and threat intelligence from OpenDNS cloud-delivered platform.
Cisco sees a big opportunity in the mushrooming digital economy and the Internet of Everything (IoE). By 2020, there will be 50 billion devices, and it will create numerous instances of security breaches. It will open a new wave of opportunities. It will create opportunities to deploy solutions, detect, block and preempt emerging threats.
The Internet security market is evolving very rapidly, and Cisco is also realigning its strategy to be in line with the trend of “Internet of Everything”. Cloud computing and other mobile devices are gaining popularity and so is the need for a secure pathway for data transfer and related services. The enterprise IT teams have an arduous task to detect threats from unmonitored and unsecured entry points constituting a serious security risk.
Cisco Systems has carved a niche as a leading provider of IP-based networking services and allied products. The company has been expanding its security business through the in-house development and also by acquisition such as Neohapsis, Virtuata, Sourcefire, Cognitive Security and ThreatGrid to reinforce its security kitty. The latest acquisition will widen Cisco’s customer base and security network offerings.
