- VMware acquiring the cybersecurity company Carbon Black this year for $2.1 billion is just one example of how cybersecurtity consolidation is heating up.
- A new Forrester reports that there will be more M&A activity in cloud security in 2020.
- These are six cybersecurity startups that the report named as possible targets for acquisition.
- Some say that they're not looking for an exit, but that they're at least hearing would-be buyers out. At least one of these startups, SentinelOne, says that it's aiming for an IPO within the next three years.
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With major data breaches like the one experienced by Capital One fresh on everybody's mind, cybersecurity has become a hotter topic than ever.
Against that backdrop, cloud security is going to be the next major challenge in the cloud computing industry, a new Forrester report says, setting the stage for 2020.
With cloud security so front-and-center, tech giants will be looking to buy or build their way into the market, the report says. For example, in October, VMware acquired cybersecurity company Carbon Black for $2.1 billion to lock down software running in the cloud against threats.
Across the industry, Cisco also acquired Tetration, Check Point acquired Dome9, and Palo Alto Networks acquired Evident.io, in deals of varying value. Andras Cser, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester, predicts that Broadcom, Symantec, and Trend Micro are likely to keep buying these kinds of startups in the near future.
"It is highly likely that the wave of acquisitions continues," Cser told Business Insider.
There are two areas that these tech giants will invest in, Forrester predicts: cloud workload security (CWS), or securing applications and data in the cloud, and endpoint detection and response (EDR), or technology that continually monitors and responds to cyber threats.
In either case, Forrester laid out six startups that it sees as prime acquisition fodder heading into the new year.
These are six cybersecurity startups that the report named as possible targets for acquisition: