Arista Networks To Scoop Up Awake Security For AI-Powered Network Detection Expertise

The deal will give Arista Networks AI-driven network detection and response technology to boost client to cloud network security, according to the company.

Data center and large campus networking specialist Arista Networks said Monday that it will buy network detection provider Awake Security.

Arista Networks CEO Jayshree Ullal said in a blog post that security plays a big role in client to cloud networking. The deal combines Awake Security’s AI-based platform with Arista’s cloud networking technology, giving customers proactive security across users, devices and IoT, the company said.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

[Related: Arista Networks To Pay Cisco $400 Million To Dismiss All Patent Lawsuits]

“Security operations teams are like understaffed police and fire departments, mandated to protect neighborhoods without the necessary safety equipment, while only equipped with a flashlight to search every smoke-filled house in the dark. These two worlds must deliver an overall environment of secure network visibility in their investigations across client to cloud logs, directories and assets for a more complete picture,” Ullal said. ”A new class of Network Detection and Response (NDR) security is emerging and required. It must consume and provide usable, rich visibility into the environment and analyze it predictively.”

That‘s where Awake Security’s AI-based technology comes in, she added. As workloads move to the cloud, threats are blurring the perimeter and trust boundaries are spanning from client to campus to cloud.

“Awake Security and Arista Networks are complementary technologies on several fronts. Arista’s Campus Flow Tracker can work synergistically with Big Switch DMF (DANZ Monitoring Fabric) for monitoring and Awake sensors to augment the threat detection for client to cloud networking. CloudVision and continued integration with our technology partners (Forescout, Okta, Palo Alto, Splunk, VMware, Zscaler) to remediate segmentation policies in cyber security is an ongoing journey,” Ulall said.

Awake Security’s AI-based Network Detection and Response platform, paired with human expertise, can autonomously hunt and respond to insider and external threats.

The deal is expected to close during Arista’s fiscal fourth quarter of 2020 and is subject to regulatory approvals.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Arista in February acquired Big Switch Networks for an undisclosed sum following monthlong reports that it would be scooping up the software-defined networking specialist to strengthen its network monitoring and observability suite.