Google’s locking down cloud security ??

Google search might be beating Bing in the popularity stakes, but not everyone’s a fan(g) of the tech titan, or their latest shopping spree. ??? Google’s weathering a wave of Justice Department antitrust lawsuits, and even the Googleplex architect has labelled the behemoth’s headquarters - complete with nap pods and Buddha bowls - as ‘dangerous’. Now folks are wading into Google’s play to buy cybersecurity firm Mandiant (MNDT).

Mandiant CEO, Air Force vet Kevin Mandia, hopes the sale will propel the automated cloud security mission that he began when he founded Mandiant in 2004 - when nation-state cyber attacks weren’t hold the front page news. Former chief executive Dave DeWalt agrees the acquisition could bolster Google to become ‘the most powerful company in the world when it comes to security’. But he cautions that merging a company of nearly 1,000 security and intelligence analysts with one that ‘sells products’ is a recipe for one popcorn-worthy culture clash …possibly more awkward than Whole Foods and Amazon. ???

Cyberwarfare’s a hot topic. And if regulators sign off on parent company Alphabet (GOOGL and GOOG) and Google’s US$5.4 billion purchase - the multinational’s second largest acquisition after Motorola Mobility in 2012 (later sold to Lenovo) - it’s likely to lock down Google Cloud’s security strength. It may even prompt cloud tech owners Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT) boost their own offerings, with CyberArk (CYBR), Ping (PING), Qualys (QLYS), Rapid7 (RPD), SailPoint (SAIL), Tenable (TENB) and Varonis (VRNS) all potential contenders for the shopping trolley. ??

For now, Google’s playing catch-up. According to Synergy Research Group, at the end of 2021, despite reporting 47% sales growth, Google Cloud held just 10% of the cloud-infrastructure provider market, less than half Microsoft’s Azure at 21%, and well below Amazon Web Services, sitting at 33%. Assuming regulatory approval, the Mandiant sale’s due to close later this year.

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