Tag Archive for: Buys

Google buys Israeli security startup Siemplify for US$500 million: Report

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Alphabet-owned Google said on Tuesday its cloud division had acquired Israeli cybersecurity startup Siemplify, as the US tech giant expands its security offerings amid rising cyber attacks.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed by the companies, but a source familiar with the matter said Google paid about US$500 million in cash for Siemplify.

The deal came after Google made a pledge to US President Joe Biden last August to invest US$10 billion in cybersecurity over the next five years, amid a significant rise in cyber attacks and data breaches.

Siemplify, led by co-founder and chief executive Amos Stern, provides security orchestration, automation and response solutions. It has raised US$58 million from investors including G20 Ventures and 83North.

With a partnership with Google Cloud, Siemplify attracted the buyer’s interest as it was in the process of raising a new round of private capital, the source added.

Since the pandemic started in 2020, Google’s revenue from the cloud business has nearly doubled to around US$5 billion as companies shifted to working from home. The need to protect and hedge against security threats has shot up in tandem, with big corporates also beefing up on cybersecurity products.

Google said Siemplify’s platform would be integrated into its cloud and serve as the foundation for the capabilities it will invest in.

The buyout, Google’s first Israeli cybersecurity firm deal, will help the tech giant take advantage of the Middle Eastern nation’s deep pool of cybersecurity talent.

Guggenheim Securities advised Siemplify on the transaction.

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Company That Buys Zero-Day Hacks Now Wants Exploits for Popular VPNs

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Uh oh. An infamous company that pays thousands of dollars for iOS and Android hacking techniques is now out to acquire zero-day exploits for three popular VPN services. 

Zerodium today sent out a tweet calling for “zero-days” or publicly unknown attacks that work against ExpressVPN, NordVPN, or Surfshark. The attacks must be capable of leaking information from the VPNs, such as a computer’s IP address. Zerodium will also pay for exploits that can trigger a VPN to remotely execute computer code.

Zerodium didn’t say how much it’s willing to pay for the hacking techniques. But its bounties can range from $100,000 up to $2.5 million for the most powerful zero-day exploits against Android and iOS. For now, Zerodium is merely calling on hackers and security researchers to submit “pre-offers” for the zero-day exploits via its website.  

Zerodium’s tweet is unsettling, given that ExpressVPN, NordVPN, and Surfshark are highly rated and popular VPN services. But it’s also true that hackers and fraudsters rely on VPN services too.

The technology works by rerouting your internet activity to the VPN provider’s servers and encrypting the connection, which can prevent an internet service provider from learning what you’ve been browsing. However, the zero-day exploits Zerodium is asking for could unravel the encryption and even hijack your PC or smartphone. 

The bounty from Zerodium also suggests the company’s clients are looking to spy on some users of the three VPN apps. Those customers include government institutions in the US and Europe “in need of advanced zero-day exploits and cybersecurity capabilities,” according to Zerodium’s website. 

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“At Zerodium we take ethics very seriously and we choose our customers very carefully through a very strict due diligence and vetting process,” the site adds. “Access to acquired zero-day research is highly restricted and is limited to a very small number of government clients.”

Zerodium—along with ExpressVPN, NordVPN, and Surfshark—didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. However, both ExpressVPN and NordVPN offer bug bounties, which means they’ll pay you for…

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Dish buys Boost prepaid biz from T-Mobile, finally enters wireless market

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The words

Enlarge (credit: Dish Network)

Dish Network has completed a $ 1.4 billion acquisition of Boost Mobile, a former Sprint subsidiary that resells prepaid mobile service.

After years of buying up spectrum but never delivering service, Dish is finally a mobile provider—albeit as a reseller that doesn’t yet operate its own network. Dish was able to buy Boost as part of the merger agreement in which the Department of Justice allowed T-Mobile to buy Sprint. The DOJ required T-Mobile and Sprint to sell Dish the prepaid business as well as spectrum licenses and wholesale access to the combined T-Mobile/Sprint network. The prepaid sale and wholesale access are intended to let Dish operate a wireless business as a network reseller while it builds its own 5G network that could eventually make it the fourth major wireless provider.

“With this purchase, Dish officially enters the retail wireless market, serving more than nine million customers,” Dish said in a press release today. Starting tomorrow, Dish said its Boost subsidiary will offer a “$ hrink-It! plan, which starts at $ 45 for 15GB, reduces customers’ monthly rates by $ 5 after three on-time payments, and by an additional $ 5 after six total on-time payments.” Boost will also “offer a $ 35 10GB plan that includes unlimited talk and text,” Dish said.

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Biz & IT – Ars Technica

All your reaction GIFs now belong to Facebook, as it buys Giphy for $400M

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Ironically, their logo is static, not animated.

Enlarge / Ironically, their logo is static, not animated. (credit: Giphy)

Seven years ago, Facebook claimed not to support the 21st century’s new favorite communication tool, the animated GIF. Oh, how times have changed: Today, Facebook’s newest acquisition is one of the Internet’s most popular GIF hosting sites.

Facebook is making Giphy part of the Instagram team, the company said today. Axios, which was first to report the transaction, said the deal was valued at about $ 400 million.

According to Facebook, about half of Giphy’s current traffic already comes from Facebook products, especially Instagram. That’s perhaps unsurprising, given that Facebook’s big three apps—WhatsApp, Instagram, and flagship Facebook—have literally billions of daily users among them.

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Biz & IT – Ars Technica