Alphabet agrees to buy Israel’s Wiz, expanding its cloud security reach – Source: www.csoonline.com

Alphabet has agreed to acquire Israeli cybersecurity firm Wiz for $32 billion, a move that will significantly expand its footprint in cloud security and mark its largest acquisition to date.

The latest bid exceeds Alphabhet’s previous $23-billion bid by roughly a third. Wiz had rejected the earlier proposal in July 2024 due to regulatory concerns.

Wiz provides AI-powered cloud security solutions that help enterprises identify and mitigate risks across platforms. Its customers include Morgan Stanley and DocuSign, and it works with multiple cloud providers, including Microsoft and Amazon.

While the Biden administration had tightened antitrust scrutiny on big tech deals, regulatory policies could shift under US President Donald Trump’s administration.

However, a deal of this scale in the cybersecurity space is still expected to face regulatory hurdles. The deal remains subject to customary closing conditions “including regulatory approvals,” Alphabet said in a blog post announcing the deal.

Impact on competition

Acquiring Wiz will allow Google Cloud to strengthen its security offerings by integrating advanced features such as risk prioritization and compliance automation, while also enhancing support for hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

“Today, 51% of the cloud service provider (CSP) market is held by Microsoft and Amazon, while Alphabet (Google Cloud) is playing catch-up at 12%,” said Keith Prabhu, founder and CEO of Confidis. “Alphabet’s acquisition of Wiz will give it a competitive edge in the cloud space.”

Beyond bolstering Google Cloud’s security portfolio, the acquisition could help it close gaps in real-time threat detection and mitigation.

“Wiz’s ability to provide real-time threat detection and mitigation, enhanced by AI, aligns with this shift,” said Prabhu Ram, VP of the industry research group at Cybermedia Research. “Wiz provides unified visibility across AWS, Azure, GCP, and other cloud environments, addressing a critical gap in Google Cloud’s current offerings.”

Regulatory and other concerns

The primary hurdle for the deal would be potential antitrust scrutiny but analysts suggest that given the strong cybersecurity ties between the US and Israel, regulatory or political opposition appears unlikely.

“However, it also remains to be seen how Google will manage the technical complexities of integrating a cloud-agnostic platform and navigate potential regulatory challenges,” Ram added.

Keith is optimistic that Wiz’s extensive cloud security capabilities will seamlessly integrate with Google Cloud, enhancing its security portfolio and offering enterprise customers a more comprehensive, built-in solution.  “This can significantly help enterprise customers to conveniently leverage Wiz’s security products without having to look for additional bolt-on solutions,” Keith said.