Deloitte Makes Fifth Cybersecurity Acquisition In 2021: aeCyberSolutions

‘We’re getting a very experienced and a very senior team, as well as frameworks and methodologies and toolsets specific to industrial cybersecurity and IoT and OT related to cybersecurity,’ says Wendy Frank, Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory Cyber 5G and IoT leader.

Global professional services provider Deloitte & Touche Tuesday unveiled its acquisition of aeCyberSolutions, the industrial cybersecurity business of Applied Engineering Solutions, or aeSolutions.

The acquisition, which is Deloitte’s fifth cybersecurity-related acquisition so far in 2021, aims to quickly expand the company’s capabilities in this business, said Wendy Frank, Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory Cyber 5G and IoT leader and principal of Deloitte & Touche.

“We’re getting a very experienced and a very senior team, as well as frameworks and methodologies and toolsets specific to industrial cybersecurity and IoT and OT related to cybersecurity,” Frank told CRN.

[Related: The 10 Biggest Cybersecurity Acquisitions Of 2021 (So Far)]

The value of the acquisition was not disclosed.

Deloitte’s acquisition of aeCyberSolutions follows the July 26 acquisition of TransientX, a provider of cloud-native application networking technology for zero trust network access; the June 15 acquisition of Terbium Labs, a digital risk protection company targeting threat protection intelligence; the June 7 acquisition of CloudQuest, a cloud security posture management provider; and the Jan. 25 acquisition of Root9B, a developer of cyberthreat hunting technology.

“We are committed to growing aggressively in cybersecurity,” Frank said. “There’s only a limited number of people with the right cybertools and understanding. This is a way for us to [move] in an aggressive fashion. And all these teams bring us senior-level experience.”

Acquisitions are expected to continue to be a big part of Deloitte’s forward-looking strategy, Frank said. “I would expect us to continue to make acquisitions this year and beyond,” she said.

With the acquisition of aeCyberSolutions, Applied Engineering Solutions will continue to focus on its consulting, engineering and systems integration for industrial process safety, combustion control, and automation products and services.