Nasdaq-listed Zscaler to buy Mumbai-based cybersecurity firm Smokescreen

By Bruhadeeswaran R

  • 26 May 2021
Credit: 123RF.com

Smokescreen Technologies, a Mumbai-based cybersecurity firm, will be acquired by Nasdaq-listed cloud security company Zscaler Inc.  

The transaction is expected to close by July-end. Smokescreen reported a revenue of Rs 15 crore and an operating profit of Rs 3 crore for 2018-19, according to VCCEdge. 

Its capabilities will be integrated into Zscaler to further build upon the acquirer’s ability to detect targeted attacks, ransomware, and lateral movement attempts.  

Additionally, Smokescreen will help provide threat intelligence and telemetry to the Zscaler team. 

“Today’s most sophisticated cyberthreats, like the recent Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack, require immediate, high-confidence detections to drive effective response,” said Jay Chaudhry, chief executive, chairman and founder of Zscaler. 

“Alert volume has never been higher. Security teams can’t separate the signal from the noise to take a proactive stance against the most stealthy attackers,” said Sahir Hidayatullah, chief executive at Smokescreen.  

He added, “As analysts lose time chasing ghosts, the role of active defence has never been more critical. By taking the fight to the attacker, leading them down false paths with decoys deployed across networks, endpoints, and applications, and gathering the highest-fidelity security telemetry, we can dramatically speed up threat hunting and containment.’’ 

DC Advisory and Universal Legal advised the target company on the deal.