Akamai Technologies, Inc., a cloud company, has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Neosec, an API detection and response platform based on data and behavioral analytics.

API threats

According to the companies, Neosec’s API security solution will complement Akamai’s application and API security portfolio by dramatically extending its visibility into the rapidly growing API threat landscape. The combination is designed to make it easy for customers to secure their APIs by helping them discover all of their APIs, assess their risk and respond to vulnerabilities and attacks.

“With rapidly accelerating digital transformation, APIs are the new frontier for digital business and the enablement of critical business functions,” said Mani Sundaram, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Security Technology Group, Akamai Technologies.

“Enterprises expose full business logic and process data via APIs, which, in a cloud-based economy, are vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Neosec’s platform and Akamai’s application security portfolio will allow customers to gain visibility into all APIs, analyze their behavior and protect against API attacks.”

Collaboration

The companies say the combined API solutions are expected to put Akamai at the forefront of a critical emerging category of API security for which customers are actively seeking support. The rapidly growing global market for API security solutions is driven by the proliferation of APIs and the associated increase in cybersecurity threats.

“What sets Neosec apart from other API security providers is the complete visibility into all API activity and the use of behavioral analytics that detect threats others miss,” said Giora Engel, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Neosec.

“Unlike other solutions, Neosec delivers rich, XDR-like API visibility combined with detection and response capabilities that enable full investigation and threat hunting. Ultimately, Akamai customers will have a better view into all of their API activity, to identify vulnerabilities and threats before they are exposed and detect attacks in runtime.”

Acquisition

The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2023. On its next quarterly earnings call currently scheduled for 9 May 2023, Akamai plans to provide first quarter financial results and full year 2023 financial guidance including any expected impact from Neosec.