Barracuda Acquires Skout Cybersecurity to Enter the XDR Market

TechCrunch (Source)

Barracuda Networks has purchased Skout Cybersecurity, a New York-based channel-only provider of extended detection and response (XDR) services.

The deal, the terms of which were not disclosed, will see the California-based cybersecurity vendor enter the fast-growing XDR market

CRN (Source)

Barracuda plans to buy Skout Cybersecurity to provide MSPs with the technology and manpower needed to respond more effectively to cyberthreats.

The Campbell, Calif.-based cybersecurity vendor said its proposed purchase of Melville, N.Y.-based security monitoring and response company Skout Cybersecurity will help MSPs cull and correlate threat data as well as respond to incidents more efficiently. Skout offers an extended detection and response (XDR) platform for MSPs as well as an around-the-clock Security Operations Center (SOC).

MSSP Alert (Source)

Barracuda Networks is acquiring Skout Cybersecurity, a Top 250 MSSP that develops XDR (eXtended Detection and Response) and Security Operations Center (SOC) solutions for MSPs. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Skout through January 2021 or so positioned itself mainly as cyber-as-a-service for MSPs. The company also competes in the highly fragmented SOC as a Service (SOCaaS) market for MSPs. More recently, Skout — like much of the cybersecurity industry — has jumped on the hot XDR term to emphasize a platform that connects “with email, firewall, identity and access, and a 24×7 SOC that aids the detection and response of cyberattacks.”

Barracuda, backed by private equity firm Thoma Bravo, expects to close the Skout Cybersecurity acquisition in July 2021.