Cisco acquires Sourcefire for $2.7B to protect its customers from cybersecurity threats

Networking giant Cisco announced it would acquire security startup Sourcefire for $2.7 billion.

Maryland-based Sourcefire develops cybersecurity products that protect companies from attack. It is best known for its Intrusion Protection System (IPS) and advanced firewall, which it claims can protect companies from 99 percent of attacks.

Cisco will reportedly fold this technology into its existing offering. According to a statement, Sourcefire’s team will join Cisco’s security group to help protect its brand-name customers from cybersecurity threats.

This acquisition is intended to boost Cisco’s network security services. In recent years, younger competitors, such as Palo Alto Networks and Juniper Networks, have done a better job of building complex protections for their customers that are a step ahead of the traditional corporate firewall.

This follows a series of acquisitions for Cisco; this summer, the company acquired Composite Software for $180 million and cloud-based services management company SolveDirect. This aggressive M&A strategy has already added talent to the security team; in recent years, Cisco scooped up Czech-based Cognitive Security and Virtuata.