WatchGuard has acquired Panda Security in a deal that adds advanced endpoint security to its growing catalog of security capabilities.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Panda is headquartered in Spain, so the agreement, while definitive, is subject to regulatory approval.
Best known for network security generally and firewalls specifically, WatchGuard has been expanding its product line in recent years to better accommodate the needs of today’s mobile workforce, which increasingly accesses data and applications from outside traditional network perimeters. Panda’s collection of AI-powered anti-virus, endpoint detection and response, email security, and other solutions, along with its recently introduced threat hunting service, position the company to provide a more expansive array of integrated solutions for endpoints, networks, and beyond.
“Businesses today face an increasingly sophisticated and evolving threat landscape, scarcity of trained security professionals, and an increasingly porous perimeter. As a result, network security, advanced endpoint protection, multi-factor authentication, secure networking, and threat detection and response capabilities are consistently ranked as top security investment areas by IT decision-makers and IT solution providers who serve them,” said WatchGuard CEO Prakash Panjwani in a press statement. “By bringing the companies together, we enable our current and future customers and partners to consolidate their fundamental security services under a single brand, backed by the innovation and quality that is a core part of both companies’ DNA.”
WatchGuard’s technology roadmap now includes knitting Panda’s solutions together with its own to enable coordinated network and endpoint security.
“In the short term, the acquisition of Panda Security makes best-in-class endpoint detection and response, threat hunting, endpoint AV, email security, patching, and data compliance and encryption accessible to our customer base through a trusted vendor and their IT solution provider of choice,” Panjwani said. “Longer term, our customers and partners will enjoy the additional benefits that come from these solutions being tightly integrated with the core WatchGuard offering.”
Panda’s solutions are the latest addition to a WatchGuard portfolio that now includes Wi-fi security products as well as a “user-focused security” system for roaming employees that includes endpoint security, DNS filtering, and multifactor authentication components for PCs and Macs. Support for Chromebooks will join that product, named Passport and introduced last September, in the future. Protection for iOS and Android devices is on the roadmap as well.
“We are thrilled to merge with WatchGuard because of the new scale and portfolio access it provides to our customers and partners,” said Juan Santamaria Uriarte, Panda’s CEO, in prepared remarks. “We are also excited to see our innovative product portfolio be delivered via WatchGuard’s strong global network of partners. Together, we look forward to building a security platform that bridges the network and user perimeter, with capabilities that are unmatched in the cybersecurity market.”
WatchGuard revamped its partner program’s requirements and benefit structure last year to better reflect the broader range of solutions it now offers.
