Cybersecurity firm Digital Shadows to be bought by ReliaQuest for $160 million

Digital Shadows is set to become the latest cybersecurity firm to be acquired by a larger company, announcing on Wednesday that ReliaQuest is buying the threat intelligence specialist for $160 million.

Florida-based ReliaQuest offers a range of threat detection and response tools to large companies but said it wanted to beef up its threat intelligence bonafides after several customers asked for it.

“The combination of ReliaQuest and Digital Shadows makes a lot of sense for our customers, our partners, and both of our teams,” said Brian Murphy, founder and CEO at ReliaQuest. “We have a responsibility and opportunity to leverage our collective expertise to continue to tackle what I believe to be the largest technical challenge of our generation, cybersecurity.”

ReliaQuest will be absorbing Digital Shadows’ 180 San Francisco-based employees into its 800-person workforce once the acquisition is approved. 

Alastair Paterson, co-founder and CEO at Digital Shadows, said combining the internal visibility provided by ReliaQuest with the external threat intelligence and digital risk monitoring brought by Digital Shadows “creates an end-to-end picture for enterprises around the world.” 

“The complementary technical capability, shared cultural values, and geographic synergies offered by the combined companies make this a great opportunity for our customers and our partners,” Paterson explained. 

The two companies said IT teams at most companies are already stretched thin and few have the time or ability to conduct deep investigations into threats, paving the way for companies like Digital Shadows. 

ReliaQuest and Digital Shadows said they want to offer customers digital risk and threat intelligence integrated into security operations platforms. 

“Alastair Paterson and James Chappell built a world-class team, technology, and culture in Digital Shadows and I am looking forward to our organizations working together to make security possible for organizations all over the world,” Murphy added. 

The companies plan to integrate Digital Shadows’ offerings into ReliaQuest’s GreyMatter cloud native platform.

The acquisition comes after Alphabet purchased Mandiant for $5.4 billion in March and SentinelOne bought Attivo Networks in May for $616.5 million.