Forcepoint Beefs Up Human-Centric Security With RedOwl Buy

**Editor’s Note: Please click here for a recap of the biggest channel-impacting merger and acquisition news from July.**

Cybersecurity company Forcepoint has finalized its acquisition of RedOwl, a security analytics company focused on helping customers understand and manage human risk.

Since 2011, RedOwl has focused specifically on delivering capabilities that provide visibility into the holistic activities of people, including cyber, physical and financial. Customers deploy these capabilities to analyze large amounts of complex data, assess high-risk events and behaviors, and put in place centralized, people-led oversight to satisfy both security and regulatory requirements.

Forcepoint’s Bharath Vasudevan

Bharath Vasudevan, Forcepoint’s senior director of data and insider threat security business, tells Channel Partners that focusing on people is a “huge, underserved security and services opportunity today for the channel.”

“Forcepoint UEBA (user and entity behavior analytics), formerly RedOwl, now provides partners the tool to unlock that revenue for security and regulatory use cases,” he said. “RedOwl brings a sophisticated analytics platform to Forcepoint’s human-centric cybersecurity system and will be integrated across the company’s portfolio, as well as with customers’ existing cybersecurity technologies (e.g., SIEM). This integrated platform delivers real-time insight into anomalous interactions and access that takes place across people, data, devices and applications.”

The security industry is shifting to people – rather than technology infrastructure – as the the focal point, Vasudevan said.

“Cloud, mobility and ever-changing infrastructure makes the traditional perimeter a fallacy; by focusing on how, when, where and why people interact with critical data and IP, organizations can more effectively identify and address risk,” he said. “Human-centric security is a huge growth opportunity for the channel that the industry has been waiting for. Think of it as filling a need for a big-data solution addressing the security market. Forcepoint UEBA empowers partners with another tool to address UEBA and Insider Threat; and, having a UEBA solution reduces sales cycles for insider threat deals.”

RedOwl’s partners can join the Forcepoint partner network, Vasudevan said. The combination of RedOwl’s UEBA technology, Forcepoint DLP and Forcepoint Insider Threat will allow partners to offer a “differentiated, innovative, human-first solution that understands and adapts protection in real-time based on intent and motivations,” he said.

“As I’ve watched Forcepoint’s story unfold, it is clear we share the view that a human-first approach must be the path to addressing cybersecurity and internal risk,” said Guy Filippelli, RedOwl’s CEO. “The opportunity to deliver a holistic solution around proactive human oversight is exciting; joining Forcepoint will accelerate our ability to deliver these important capabilities to our customers. We’re thrilled to become a part of the Forcepoint team.”