ZoneFox acquired by US giant Fortinet

Scottish IT cyber security company ZoneFox has been acquired by US giant Fortinet.

Edinburgh-based ZoneFox was spun out of Edinburgh Napier University in 2009 and has since grown rapidly.

It focuses on providing world class security systems that combat the issue of insider threats to companies across a wide range of business sectors and its customers include Craneware, Zenith Bank and Rockstar Games.

Last year ZoneFox moved from tech incubator CodeBase to a new Edinburgh HQ at 40 Tophichen Street, giving it room to double its existing headcount of 33.

Today it was announced that California-based Fortinet had acquired the business which "further enhances" Fortinet's security systems. The sum was not disclosed.

Specifically it pointed to how the integration of ZoneFox's award-winning machine learning-based threat-hunting technology would complement its security systems.

In a statement, the firm said: "Fortinet expects that the new endpoint security capabilities provided by ZoneFox will allow enterprise organisations to better leverage machine learning to detect anomalous behavior and provide an even faster response to insider threats."

Dr Jamie Graves, chief executive officer and founder, ZoneFox, said: “We’re pleased to join the Fortinet team.

"The acquisition encompasses both our technology and entire team – which will enable our employees to thrive as part of the Fortinet family, whilst accelerating the route to global markets for our cutting-edge UEBA Technology.

"This is the start of a new chapter which will see our organisation go from strength to strength in the security ecosystem we will have access to as part of the Fortinet Family.

"We will remain focused on building cutting edge security products that enable Sec-Ops teams to mitigate the risk of the Insider Threat by helping them to make rapid decisions and respond to security incidents relating to human behaviour and data flow across their organisations and supply chains.

"As CEO and founder, I am honoured to be embarking on the next step of the ZoneFox journey with the team. ZoneFox will always have its roots in Scotland and will remain part of the local Scottish Security community to both access and develop talent.

"I would like to thank everyone who has supported us on the journey so far; Scottish Enterprise, Edinburgh Napier University, our seed and investors Archangels, mentors, customers, colleagues, friends, and family."

Niki McKenzie, investment director at Archangels - which led earlier seeding funding rounds for ZoneFox - said: “ZoneFox is a Scottish technology success story around the world and Archangels is proud to have supported the business and the management team from an early stage.

"The threat from cyber security has never been more acute and today’s announcement signals the next chapter in the ZoneFox story, enabling the team to provide protection and support to an even wider range of organisations. We are confident that the business, and its staff, will flourish as part of Fortinet.”

Kerry Sharp, head of the Scottish Investment Bank, said: “ZoneFox is an excellent example of an innovative Scottish technology business that’s had a clear vision from the outset on how to develop, deliver and commercialise first class cybersecurity products for businesses globally. Scottish Enterprise, through the Scottish Investment Bank, is delighted to have supported the Company and management from an early stage."

Source insider

Industry: Cyber Security News