CloudFlare plan to acquire Area1Security, a security startup that has developed a product that stops phishing attacks before they reach an employee's inbox. CloudFlare plans to spend about $162 million on the acquisition.
CloudFlare has developed its own suite of security products with a zero trust security model. These security solutions prevent data loss, malware, or phishing attacks even if employees are not in the office or using a corporate VPN.
With the new acquisition, the company is adding a mature email security product to its zero-trust offering. Area1Security said it has blocked more than 40 million phishing campaigns for its customers in 2021 alone.
“Email is the largest cyberattack vector on the Internet, which makes integrated email security critical to any true Zero Trust network. That is why today we welcome Area1Security to help make Cloudflare's platform the undisputed leader in Zero Trust," Cloudflare co-founder and CEO Matthew Prince said in a statement. “For us, the future of Zero Trust includes an integrated, one-click approach to protecting all of an organization's applications, including its most ubiquitous cloud application, email. Together, we look forward to delivering the fastest, most effective and most reliable email security on the market."
This is not the first email product from CloudFlare. The company launched its first email products last year. For example, a domain name can be associated with the account of CloudFlare and create custom email addresses from the interface CloudFlare. Incoming emails can be redirected to any other email inbox.
CloudFlare also guides to improve your DNS records and make your emails more secure. For example, the company can help prevent phishing attacks.
Y Area1Security fills an important gap in the email offer of CloudFlare. Area1Security constantly tries to discover and identify new phishing attacks. When employees receive new emails, Area1Security scans incoming emails for phishing attempts.
Suspicious emails are automatically blocked before they reach inboxes. Not only do they appear in the 'Spam' folder, but they are blocked entirely.
In setup, customers can start using Area1Security changing the MX record at the DNS level. After that, it's a cloud-first product, which means customers don't have to install or patch software. If your company uses Google Workspace or Office 365, Area1Security works with those email providers.
Given the great experience of CloudFlare in DNS servers, this acquisition makes sense. CloudFlare have already been using Area1Security for your own employees' inboxes. In other words, they already know what they are getting.
