Palo Alto Networks to acquire secure web browser startup Talon
The acquisition is the second for the cybersecurity giant within the past week
Palo Alto Networks announced Monday its second startup acquisition deal within a week, with an agreement to acquire secure web browser provider Talon Cyber Security.
The deal follows Palo Alto Networks' 31 October announcement that it plans to acquire cloud data security startup, Dig Security.
The pair of acquisition deals end an 11-month period without any M&A activity by the cybersecurity giant. Under CEO Nikesh Arora, Palo Alto Networks has completed 14 acquisitions since his arrival in June 2018. The planned acquisitions of Dig Security and Talon are set to bring that number to 16.
As with the Dig Security deal, Palo Alto Networks did not disclose terms of its acquisition agreement with Talon. TechCrunch reported that the Talon deal is worth $625m.
The site had earlier reported a $400m acquisition price for Dig, confirmed by a source close to the deal, which would bring the total amount reportedly spent by Palo Alto Networks for the two startups to more than $1bn.
The company said that Talon's technology will be incorporated into its fast-growing secure access service edge platform, Prisma SASE. Talon offers a secure Chromium-based web browser, aimed at helping to protect organisations with hybrid environments.
The startup has raised more than $126m in funding, most recently closing a $100m Series A round in August 2022. Talon was among just a handful of venture-backed startups to be named by CRN to its Security 100 list for 2023.
Tel Aviv, Israel-based Talon was founded in 2021 by CEO Ofer Ben-Noon and CTO Ohad Bobrov. The pair of founders will "continue leading their teams when they join the Prisma SASE team at Palo Alto Networks after closing," Palo Alto Networks said in a news release.
In the release, Palo Alto Networks chief product officer Lee Klarich pointed to the widespread use of SaaS and web-based applications, often through the browser, in modern organisations.
"Talon enables organisations to secure all work activity via an Enterprise Browser, without touching the personal usage of the device or impacting user privacy," Klarich said.
"Integrating Talon with Prisma SASE will enable Palo Alto Networks to securely connect all users and devices to all applications, including private applications, and apply consistent security no matter who the user is and what device they use for work."