Cyber deals continue with Proofpoint’s $225 million acquisition of ObserveIT

Email security company Proofpoint has agreed to purchase an insider threat detection company for $225 million in cash, a move meant to boost its appeal to larger enterprise clients.

Sunnyvale-based Proofpoint announced Sunday it intends to buy ObserveIT, which promises to stifle data loss by monitoring employees, gauging trends in user activity and watching user behavior on client networks. ObserveIT, founded in 2006, is based in Boston with a research and development center in Tel Aviv. The company has raised $53 million in funding from investors such as Bain Capital, Spring Lake Equity Partners and others.

In an unrelated deal, Sumo Logic, an event management firm, also announced the acquisition of the security operations startup Jask. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Proofpoint offers an enterprise security service that includes email protection, data loss prevention, mobile security and other offerings. It reported $717 million in revenue last year, and counts more than 2,500 employees.

The firm previously agreed to acquire Meta Networks, a compliance company, in May for $111 million in cash and roughly $9 million in stock options.

Word of the deal comes amid a years-long move toward consolidation in the security industry as major companies like Proofpoint acquire smaller firms to diversify their portfolios. By offering a simplified security platform, or a more efficient subscription, the plan goes, leading cybersecurity companies can market themselves toward larger clients while elbowing out competitors.

Sumo Logic acknowledged that strategy when announcing its acquisition of Jask, which promises to help security analysts by automating repetitive tasks. “Customers are looking for a new approach to help them overcome the pain and complexity around an increasingly perimeter-less world,” Ramin Sayar, CEO of Sumo Logic, said in a statement.

Firms offering verifiable automation represent an especially attractive target for security vendors because they can help clients overcome the dearth of skilled security professionals. That’s especially true if the product is easy for clients to install and doesn’t require too much troubleshooting, analysts previously told CyberScoop.

Splunk, a publicly-traded data analytics company, announced in August it would acquire SignalFx, a cloud monitoring company that monitors for breach incidents.