Cisco may be in talks to acquire Axonius, which denies discussions – News

Cisco Systems Inc. is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire cybersecurity asset management startup Axonius Inc.

According to Ctech by Calcalist, the price Cisco is looking to pay for Axonius is $2 billion. However, a deal is not a forgone conclusion as Axonius has denied any talks are taking place. When asked, the company said that it “is not in talks to be acquired by Cisco” and that it is instead “focused on execution, serving our customers and continuing our growth. That is where our attention is.”

Founded in 2017, Axonius offers a cybersecurity asset management platform designed to secure and manage connected devices that any business uses. The platform allows information technology and security teams to see devices for what they are, to manage and secure them through a unified, extensible and open system, according to the company.

Axonius focuses on cyber asset attack surface management that integrates with existing tools rather than replacing them. The company’s platform connects to hundreds of data sources, including endpoint protection systems, identity platforms, cloud services, vulnerability scanners and network tools and aggregates the data into a single, normalized system of record. The idea is to allow security and information technology teams to understand exactly what assets they have and how those assets are configured.

Support includes the ability to track surface instances that don’t have security system installations and track down other types of weak points, such as known software vulnerabilities or misconfigured security settings.

Axonius operates agentlessly and does not require software to be installed on devices. It allows organizations to discover unmanaged, unknown, or forgotten assets that often escape traditional security controls.

The platform also offers automation and enforcement, which allows teams to define policies and workflows that trigger actions when assets fall out of compliance, such as isolating a device, disabling a user account, or opening a ticket in an IT service management system.

Coming into a potential acquisition, should one appear despite denials that talks are taking place, Axonius has raised $595 million over seven rounds, including $4 million upon launching in 2017, $20 million in 2019, $58 million in 2020, $100 million in 2021, $200 million in 2022 and another $200 million in 2024.

Notably, the $200 million round in 2022 was raised at a valuation of $2.6 billion, ahead of the $2 billion Cisco is reportedly offering for the company.

Ryan Knisley, current chief product strategist at Axonius, spoke with theCUBE, News Media’s livestreaming studio, in August, when he discussed how the company was using artificial intelligence as part of a push for resilient, business-aligned cybersecurity:

Photo: Axonius