Industry On The Move: Google Cloud Absorbs Alphabet’s Security Firm

As enterprises aim to secure systems on-premises and in the cloud, Google Cloud announced that it is expanding security capabilities for its customers. This is part of what has already been an active month of new offerings on Google Cloud.

What Did Google Cloud Announce This Week?

In a blog post on June 27, Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian declared that Chronicle, Alphabet’s enterprise security company, is being absorbed by Google Cloud. Launched in January 2018, Chronicle was created in the X moonshot factory and was originally an independent entity.

The announcement was largely made because the functions of both Chronicle and Google Cloud were “increasingly converging” to serve the needs of enterprise customers. Kurian hopes that the new union will strengthen the platform’s security.

“Chronicle’s VirusTotal malware intelligence services will be a powerful addition to the pool of threat data informing Google Cloud offerings, and will continue to support applications running on our platforms,” wrote Kurian. “Chronicle’s Backstory investigation flows, added to Google Cloud’s detection, incident management and remediation capabilities, will create a comprehensive end-to-end solution that will enable customers to detect and mitigate threats faster, both within their cloud deployments and across their entire enterprise.”

Google Cloud has previously been recognized for its security capabilities, as it received both The Forrester Wave™ for Public Cloud Platform Native Security, Q2 2018 and The Forrester Wave™ for Data Security Portfolio Vendors, Q2 2019.

Although no official date has been finalized for when Chronicle will join Google Cloud, Kurian wrote that it will start sometime in the coming weeks. The entire integration will be complete by fall 2019.

This isn’t the only new integration announced by Google Cloud this month. Earlier in June, Google Cloud acquired data analytics company Looker for $2.6 billion.

What Does This Mean For Enterprises?

Between Looker and now with Chronicle, Google Cloud has certainly enhanced its offerings this month. The company is trying to differentiate itself in a tight — but growing — public cloud market that already includes juggernaut such as AWS and Microsoft Azure. The announcement serves as a reminder that public cloud adoption is still growing in the enterprise.

More importantly, this announcement sheds more light on the importance of cloud security. Global threats against the enterprise are becoming more sophisticated. To combat these threats, IT leaders are looking at solutions to secure data through the enterprise. This includes the urgent need to protect important workloads in the cloud.

By baking these security features into the platform, Google Cloud makes is easier for its enterprise customers, who are demanding these capabilities. Due to regulations, businesses also need cloud security features that enhance transparency and simplify the auditing the process. Public cloud solutions are focusing more on adding these security functions.

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