Israel-based Internet and network security provider Check Point has acquired Lacoon Mobile Security, a Tel Aviv mobile security firm that provides an Android and iOS app that helps prevent cyberattacks on mobile devices.
Check Point has confirmed acquisition but declined to comment on the financial details of the deal, although Israeli newspaper Calcalist reported last week that Check Point was planning to pick up Lacoon for $80 million.
The new acquisition, Check Point's second in recent months, will help the security firm strengthen its own mobile security product, Capsule, which was launched last year as a container and document encryption tool for Check Point's enterprise clients, including big names in technology such as Samsung, Dell, and Intel.
Unlike other mobile security solutions, which give IT admins the authority to remove data or wipe out the contents of a mobile device from a remote location after a device has been infected, Lacoon's solution is different because it gives enterprises a means to proactively detect threats to the system even before it has been infiltrated by analyzing the behavior of devices and comparing them against a wide database of threats. If the system detects a problem, it institutes new rules to prevent infected devices from connecting to the network.
The solution is particularly useful in BYOD (bring your own device) scenarios, where a threat found on a single person's device could quickly infect the entire network if it is not kept at bay.
"Companies are not necessarily protecting the data on mobile devices properly. Traditional MDM (mobile device management) strategies acknowledge the existence of mobile devices, but miss an important factor: protecting those devices and the data on them from threats," says Gil Shwed, CEO and chairman of Check Point. "The addition of Lacoon, the leader in mobile threat prevention, would allow us to provide our customers the most complete mobile security solution on the market."
Lacoon is Check Point's second acquisition in 2015. The first is Hyperwise, which Check Point purchased in February. Hyperwise is an Israel-based company operating in stealth mode that developed a CPU-level threat detection engine that can detect and eliminate threats even before infection.
"This is our second acquisition in Israel this year and is part of our effort to boost the level of innovation in threat prevention," Schwed said in a news conference on Thursday.
Lacoon was founded in 2011 by veterans of the 8200 intelligence defense corps of the Israeli Army. In 2013, the startup raised $8 million in a round of funding that involves Index Ventures.
Last year, Lacoon made it to the headlines when it reported that the Chinese government was using a remote administration spyware to snoop on Hong Kong activists who were calling for autonomy.
