AT&T will buy cyberthreat detection company AlienVault
The carrier can’t seem to stop its spending spree.
AT&T will acquire AlienVault before the year ends.
AT&T is pulling out its wallet again.
The company said Tuesday it has signed a deal to acquire AlienVault, a software security company based in San Mateo, California, that specializes in detecting threats. The buyout will expand AT&T's security services to small and medium-sized companies.
"AlienVault's expertise in threat intelligence will improve our ability to help organizations detect and respond to cybersecurity attacks," Thaddeus Arroyo, CEO of AT&T Business, said in a statement. "The current threat landscape has shifted this from a luxury for some, to a requirement for all."
The deal comes amid continuing concerns over cyberattacks, with corporate giants from Yahoo to Equifax suffering devastating breaches that exposed people's personal information over the past several years.
AT&T has spent a fortune on acquisitions over the past month. Earlier in June, the mobile giant closed a deal to acquire Time Warner for $85 billion. A week later, the company was reportedly planning to buy out all of Otter Media, which it co-owns with the Chernin Group, though it wasn't clear how much AT&T would pay for it.
Both AT&T and AlienVault have approved the acquisition agreement, but an AT&T spokesperson declined to disclose details regarding the deal. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter.
