Blue Coat Systems acquires Elastica

Enterprises are finding that traditional security approaches simply cannot deliver in the cloud generation. Rapid adoption of cloud applications has created unprecedented security risk for the enterprise. Increasingly, enterprise users transact business through cloud-resident applications instead of applications managed by the CIO. The mixed use of cloud and on-premise applications has frustrated the enterprise’s ability to comprehensively manage its security posture. With the acquisition of Elastica, Blue Coat solves this problem, offering a global security platform that provides visibility, control and data-level security across cloud, on premise and hybrid cloud environments, making it the only security company to deliver on the requirements of a post-infrastructure world.  

Blue Coat has aggressively engaged in defining the future of cloud security by investing over $500 million in organic and inorganic development in recent years.  This work was embarked upon to empower customers as they redefine their network and security models for the cloud generation. By combining Blue Coat’s industry leading on- and off-premise threat defense and cloud data protection with Elastica’s Cloud Access Security and Analytics, Blue Coat stands alone in providing the industry’s first solution to deliver today’s cloud generation security requirements. 

Elastica’s CloudSOC™ provides unique capabilities such as threat scoring powered by machine learning, user and end-point behavior modeling, natural language-based cloud DLP, and analysis with remediation in a cloud application SOC.  It further provides complete risk analysis and policy management for sanctioned cloud and “shadow IT” applications to ensure safe cloud usage. Elastica delivers these capabilities via its CASB gateway and API controls for cloud application security management and enforcement. When coupled with the footprint of Blue Coat’s 15,000 customers as well as its cloud and on-premise web security solutions, this acquisition delivers the industry’s most comprehensive solution as users embrace the cloud generation. 

 “This acquisition gives Blue Coat customers access to Elastica’s CloudSOC, which brings an unprecedented level of elegance and innovation to something that is rapidly becoming a complex challenge for organizations to solve. As we evaluated many CASB players, it was clear that Elastica’s technologies represent the future of the CASB space,” said Greg Clark, Blue Coat CEO. “Segmented CASB players have survived through their dependency upon existing on-premise infrastructure. As the industry’s leading web security platform, it is natural for Blue Coat to be the first to deliver an extended spectrum of CASB capabilities while also delivering them with our cloud protection solutions.”