WatchGuard acquires Panda Security bringing advanced security to the masses

Posted March 24, 2020

Last week, on March 9th, WatchGuard Technologies announced the acquisition of Panda Security. The deal is expected to close in Q2 2020 as it passes regulatory review but what does this mean for enterprise security? Here’s what the respective CEOs had to say in the press release.

“Businesses today face an increasingly sophisticated and evolving threat landscape, scarcity of trained security professionals, and an increasingly porous perimeter. As a result, network security, advanced endpoint protection, multi-factor authentication, secure networking, and threat detection and response capabilities are consistently ranked as top security investment areas by IT decision-makers and IT solution providers who serve them. By bringing the companies together, we enable our current and future customers and partners to consolidate their fundamental security services under a single brand, backed by the innovation and quality that is a core part of both companies’ DNA. In the short term, the acquisition of Panda Security makes best-in-class endpoint detection and response, threat hunting, endpoint AV, email security, patching, and data compliance and encryption accessible to our customer base through a trusted vendor and their IT solution provider of choice. Longer term, our customers and partners will enjoy the additional benefits that come from these solutions being tightly integrated with the core WatchGuard offering”

Prakash Panjwani, CEO of WatchGuard

As Prakash points out, IT staff within many companies are stretched thin and any chance to leverage software to improve productivity helps the enterprise. As we’ll see below, Panda introduces not only advanced threat detection software but also leverages artificial intelligence — this will allow IT budgets stretch even further through the merger.

We are thrilled to merge with WatchGuard because of the new scale and portfolio access it provides to our customers and partners, We are also excited to see our innovative product portfolio be delivered via WatchGuard’s strong global network of partners. Together, we look forward to building a security platform that bridges the network and user perimeter, with capabilities that are unmatched in the cybersecurity market

Juan Santamaria Uriarte, CEO of Panda Security

As Bill Gates demonstrated in 1980 when Microsoft signed a software distribution deal with IBM, Juan Uriarte sees the opportunity that greater distribution for Panda will mean for their ability to turn their machine learning algorithms loose on even more data. Feeding the artificial intelligence more data, results in better security for all. Advanced Endpoint Protection and Threat Hunting are two of the main benefits.

Advanced Endpoint Protection and Threat Hunting

As we’ve discussed previously, next-generation firewalls and intrusion detection systems have the ability to crowdsource malicious traffic and code patterns to identify threats in real-time. Panda Security introduces artificial intelligence into the process to analyze the vast datasets and incorporate machine learning into building better profiles. This allows for the identification of threats through behavioral intelligence in real-time. Basically identifying malicious behavior before it even exists. Panda monitors 100% of processes on all endpoints and is accessible from a centralized platform. Panda has a light-weight footprint and runs on all Windows, Mac and Linux workstations along with the leading virtualization systems and Android devices. This means an enterprise and more easily secure and manage all devices within the organization.

Deploying Panda Security Threat Hunting allows an organization to proactively and iteratively search through their network to detect and isolate advanced threats that evade existing security solutions. The proactive searching, as opposed to more traditional reactive measures such as sandboxing and SIEM, is what sets Panda’s Threat Hunting capability apart from typical Threat Detection. Panda’s Threat Hunting will be a brilliant complement to the WatchGuard product suite adding a new level of security.

If you want to learn more about Threat Hunting, below is an overview webinar provided by Panda Security.

Panda Security was recognized as Gartner Peer Insights Customers’ Choice for EDR Solutions in 2019 and WatchGuard collects awards too fast to mention. At Verus, we are very excited about the integration of Panda Security to the WatchGuard offering. And we look forward to frustrating hackers as we continue hardening our client’s networks and devices.

Kevin Willette

Kevin Willette is Partner / CEO of Verus Corp. His focus is ensuring complete customer satisfaction and providing as much or as little support as is needed for the individual client. Kevin knows that plenty of places do IT services, but what sets Verus Corp apart is the local feeling and the commitment to doing things right the first time. He has always wanted to be a business owner because it affords him the opportunity to offer a service that was better than anything clients had seen before. His true goal is to help customers make their businesses better by removing potential IT barriers. Kevin served as chair for Habitat for Humanity during his time at Minnesota State University, Mankato. He has also served on the WatchGuard Advisory Council since 2016. Kevin’s work with Verus Corp has helped them achieve awards as the WatchGuard Partner of the Year and Cisco Select Partner. Kevin graduated from Minnesota State in 2000 with a major in Business Marketing and minors in Business Administration and Music.