Tenable’s CEO discusses the company’s pending up-to-$265M Ermetic acquisition

A Columbia, Maryland-based cybersecurity company aims to grow its tech capabilities with a nine-figure acquisition.

Tenable recently announced its acquisition of cloud security company Ermetic for up to $265 million. This isn’t the first time the company added to its security tools with such a move: It previously acquired Accurics, another cloud security company, for $160 million back in 2021.

Amit Yoran, CEO of Tenable, provided some insights into the acquisition, including the expected Q4 closing date, and what it could enable.

“We intend to combine the best technology from Ermetic and our existing Tenable Cloud Security product going forward to maximize value for our customers and offer the best multi-cloud and hybrid cloud security available on the market today,” said Yoran via email.

According to its website, Ermetic boasts offices in Tel Aviv, Israel; Boston, Massachusetts; and Palo Alto, California. Regarding Ermetic’s brand identity and potential personnel changes, Yoran declined to comment on the company’s plans.

According to the Baltimore Business Journal, Tenable’s acquisition includes $240 million in cash and $25 million in restricted stock units. Yoran said that this deal gives his company the chance to expand its market reach.

“We will have an opportunity to put additional market-leading cloud security capabilities into the hands of tens of thousands of customers,” said Yoran, emphasizing the expansion of Tenable’s market share.

Financially, Tenable anticipates Q4 impacts with increased operating expenses by $4-6 million and reduced free cash flow by $10-12 million due to acquisition-related costs. Yoran discussed the deal in more depth via email. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

What are Tenable’s plans for the rest of the year in light of this acquisition and its broader business strategy?

The Ermetic acquisition will expand Tenable’s position in the cloud security market and accelerate our exposure management strategy by extending visibility and insight across cloud resources and environments. Our business strategy remains focused on providing customers with world-class security solutions that deliver full visibility and the contextual insights they need to understand, manage and reduce risk.

Does Tenable have any specific goals or objectives for integrating Ermetic into Tenable’s portfolio? Any challenges that you can perceive in this stage of the acquisition process?

One of the biggest challenges in the cloud is identity access and entitlement. Cloud environments are in a constant state of change. Teams are rolling out multiple updates every day, making tracking access incredibly difficult. A large portion of cloud breaches are the direct result of unmanaged privileges and excessive access. Ermetic is a pioneer in understanding cloud identities and providing a path forward to improve entitlements in the cloud. We’re excited about collaborating with Ermetic to extend visibility and insight across cloud resources and environments and ultimately help customers better understand and manage cyber risk.