Barracuda Networks has purchased Skout Cybersecurity, a New York-based channel-only provider of extended detection and response (XDR) services.

The deal, the terms of which were not disclosed, will see the California-based cybersecurity vendor enter the fast-growing XDR market.

As a result of the ever-increasing attack surface as businesses shift to the cloud and embrace hybrid working, 80% of security professionals now say XDR solutions — which automatically collect and correlate data from multiple security layers to improve threat detection — should be a top priority for their organization, and 68% of enterprises plan to implement XDR in 2021 and 2022, according to recent research.

By adopting Skout’s XDR platform, along with the company’s security team, Barracuda says it will be able to offer real-time continuous security monitoring to managed service providers, or MSPs, enabling them to address threats more efficiently. Skout, an early-stage cyber-as-a-service startup that had amassed a total of $25 million in funding from RSE Ventures and ClearSky, also offers AI-powered endpoint protection, email protection services and Office 365 monitoring through its XDR platform.

The acquisition also continues Barracuda’s strategic M&A momentum, which includes the recent acquisition of zero trust access provider Fyde.

“MSPs must be able to protect their customers’ end users, their devices and the data they are accessing with these devices against increasingly sophisticated threats. To achieve this level of protection for their customers, and themselves, MSPs are transforming their businesses into “security-centric” operations,” said Brian Babineau, SVP and general manager at Barracuda MSP.

“The addition of Skout enables Barracuda’s MSP partners to deploy security solutions across their environments, connecting their data feeds into a unified, 24×7 operation for swift analysis and response.” 

The acquisition is expected to close later this month, subject to obtaining required regulatory and third-party consents, and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

Previously a public company, Barracuda was taken private by private equity firm Thoma Bravo who acquired the company for $1.6 billion in November 2017. The company, which competes with Palo Alto Networks and Symantec, provides security for cloud-connected networks and applications and counts the likes of Delta Airlines, Hootsuite and Samsung among its 200,000+ customers.