Turmoil in the CASB market - 2016 the year of Big Business Acceptance

In April of last year, I wrote a technical comparison of the various players in the CASB (Cloud Access Security Broker) space, and had such incredible response and discussion, that I felt I had to provide an update this year. Should be easy, right?  WRONG!

(Read the above article if you are new to CASB and want an understanding of the space)


The CASB market has seen a lot of turmoil over the past year, in the form of mergers and acquisitions.  Early on we all thought Cisco was going to acquire Elastica as they had become quite cozy, but in a screeching left turn, BlueCoat came from the sidelines, and snapped Elastica up. The surprise here is that earlier in June of 2015, BlueCoat had just acquired CASB player Perspecsys.  Fast forward to June of this year, when BlueCoat announced their intent to IPO, then only days later agrees to be acquired by Symantec for $4.65B.  Whew...

In a similar roller coaster,  Adallom cozies up with HP in April 2015, only to get bought by Microsoft in September.  Then just last week, Cisco, not to be left out of the CASB market announced their intent to acquire Cloudlock for $293Million.

Also in recent news, Skyhigh Networks obtained a patent to use reverse proxies for cloud access security broker services, and Netskope obtains a patent for routing client traffic securely to Cloud Services. I'm not sure how this is going to change how the others model their business.





So to recap...


Last year, in the CASB space, we had: 
Adallom, BitGlass, Ciphercloud, Cloudlock, Elastica, Imperva, Netskope, Perspecsys, and SkyHigh

This year, the landscape looks to be:
Bitglass, Symantec/BlueCoat, Cisco/Cloudlock, Ciphercloud, Imperva, Microsoft/Adallom, Netskope, and SkyHigh.






I closed last year's report with the statement:

"Although the CASB market space is still in it's infancy, the main players have done a good job defining - and meeting - most of the requirements of an off-premise security service. I'm interested to see what happens to this space over the next three years.   My money is on convergence of CASB, SSO, and Mobile Security providers."

I still hold to this: Cloud SSO is what gives CASB the ability to understand context, and Mobile Security (Device Security, Application Security, Data Security)  is required to manage endpoints outside of the corporate perimeter.  Yet I'm not seeing those acquisitions as yet.

I think it's going to be an interesting challenge to to update last year's report. Stay tuned. 

NOTE: 

I am currently in the process of evaluating the technical controls published by the current players in this space and will be re-publishing this report in the near future. 

If you are a current CASB provider that I have missed here, and want to be included in the upcoming report, please comment below or email me at  unix_guru at hotmail dot com, and I will contact you for validation.

CASB References:

Gartner: The Growing Importance of Cloud Access Security Brokers
http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240223323/Cloud-access-brokers-top-security-technology-says-Gartner
Gartner: Emerging Technology Analysis: Cloud Access Security Brokers
http://www.ciphercloud.com/2014/09/30/public-cloud-security-demands-cloud-access-security-broker-casb/
https://www.netskope.com
https://www.elastica.net/
Bitglass: The Definitive Guide to Cloud Access Security Brokers
CipherCloud looks to stay at the head of the cloud security class 
Ciphercloud: 10 Minute Guide to Cloud Encryption Gateways
Ciphercloud: Cloud Adoption & Risk Report in North America & Europe – 2014 Trends
NetworkWorld: How the cloud is changing the security game
Adallom: The Case For A Cloud Access Security Broker
Adallom: Cloud Risk Report Nov 2014
Check Point Capsule and Adallom Integration 
HP - Adallom: Proven Cloud Access Security Protection Platform 
Adallom : to Offer Comprehensive Cloud Security Solution for Businesses With HP 
PingOne - Skyhigh: PingOne & Skyhigh Cloud Security Manager
ManagedMethods: Role of Enterprise Cloud Access Security Broker
Standing at the Crossroads: Employee Use of Cloud Storage. 
Cloud Computing: Security Threats and Tools 
SC Magazine: Most cloud applications in use are not sanctioned  

http://www.businesscloudnews.com/2015/04/22/cisco-elastica-join-forces-on-cloud-security-monitoring/
https://www.elastica.net/2015/04/cisco-to-offer-elastica-shadow-it-and-casb-solution-to-enterprises/
Elastica And Cisco Move To Product Integration Of Cloud Web Security And Elastica CloudSOC
Blue Coat Acquires Perspecsys to Effectively Make Public Cloud Applications Private
Blue Coat acquires Elastica in $280 million CASB deal
Fortune: Bain Wants To Take Cybersecurity Firm Public Despite Weak IPO Market
Fortune: Blue Coat Abandons IPO Plans, Sells To Symantec for $4.65 Billion

Cloud security vendor Adallom secures $30m from HP, Rembrandt Venture Partners
Hewlett Packard Ventures and Adallom: Partnering to Protect the Enterprise Cloud
Microsoft acquires Adallom to advance identity and security in the cloud

Cisco Announces Intent to Acquire CloudLock for $293M

Stratokey: Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB)

Netskope awarded patent for cloud visibility, governance

Big Tech’s Entry into the CASB Market Is Evolutionary
Microsoft acquires Adallom to advance identity and security in the cloud

http://searchcloudsecurity.techtarget.com/news/4500253289/CASB-roundup-Microsoft-confirms-Adallom-buy-Netskope-raises-75M
https://www.skyhighnetworks.com/cloud-security-blog/what-the-adallom-acquisition-means-for-the-casb-market/

http://searchcloudsecurity.techtarget.com/answer/How-can-a-reverse-proxy-mode-improve-cloud-security

Gartner: Market Guide for Cloud Access Security Brokers
Gartner: How to Evaluate and Operate a Cloud Access Security Broker