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17th April 2024 Issue no. 701

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US security software company FireEye acquires Mandiant

In a deal that may have broad repercussions for companies and governments fending off sophisticated hackers and state-sponsored digital attacks, FireEye, a provider of security software, has acquired Mandiant, a company known for emergency responses to computer network breaches. The deal, in both cash and stock, is worth more than $1 billion, based on the current value of shares in FireEye.

The end of year acquisition was one of the biggest security deals of 2013. It merges two companies in the US$67 billion global computer security market that together could form a formidable competitor to antivirus giants like Symantec and Intel's McAfee.

Mandiant was the firm that last year issued a highly touted report claiming hackers based in Shanghai are behind "an overwhelming percentage of the attacks on American corporations, organizations and government agencies," (New York Times). The firm provides timely response to cyberattacks, such as isolating bad code, eradicating it, stopping further damage, identifying the source and more.

FireEye software isolates incoming traffic in virtual containers. Then the software monitors code for suspicious activity in a sort of virtual 'petri dish,' before deciding whether to let the traffic through or isolate it.

8th January 2014