Darktrace acquires attack surface management startup Cybersprint

UK cyber security unicorn Darktrace has acquired Dutch attack surface management startup Cybersprint in a deal worth €47.5 million (£39.6 million).

The acquisition is a mix of 75% cash and 25% equity and represents the first takeover Darktrace has made in its nine-year history.

Cybersprint describes itself as an "attack surface management company" that offers penetration testing services and continuous, real-time insights from an outside-in perspective. One of its services is an automated tool that maps an organisation's assets so they can continuously monitor areas that might go unnoticed by in house checks, such as older IP addresses.

Darktrace said the two companies shared an "aligned vision" of delivering a "continuous cyber AI loop", adding that Cybersprint's employees bring an understanding of how to continuously model real-time internet data as well as ethical hacking expertise.

With the deal, Darktrace will also gain a second Research and Development centre, Cybersprint's Hague facility in the Netherlands, which will be integrated into the Darktrace network.

The UK cyber firm will aim to use Cybersprints' seven years' worth of R&D to accelerate its own AI-based 'Prevent' product suite, according to CEO Poppy Gustafsson.

"We are very excited to welcome the Cybersprint team to Darktrace. Bringing inside-out and outside-in visibility together is critical and having access to the robust, rich, real-time external dataset combined with Darktrace's Self-Learning AI means that customers get a holistic view of prioritised cyber risks to harden the parts of their organisation that are most vulnerable," Gustafsson said.

Cybersprint CEO Pieter Jansen said he felt an "instant" connection on vision, culture and technology with Darktrace. He added that both firms were "passionate" about automating manual tasks in cyber security from an outside perspective and that "attackers never sleep".

"We are looking forward to joining Darktrace and working together to accelerate state-of-the-art innovations to make organisations more cyber secure," Jansen said.