Cybersecurity

Yellow fibre-optic patch cables plugged into rows of green connectors in a network cabinet.

Thoma Bravo's Proofpoint Will Pay $6.3 Billion in Cash for Varonis at $49.75 a Share. The Premium Is 52 Per Cent Against June and 17 Per Cent Against September.

Proofpoint, a Thoma Bravo portfolio company, agreed on Thursday 15 October to buy Varonis Systems for $49.75 a share in cash, a deal valued at about $6.3 billion. Varonis would owe a $211.7 million termination fee in some cases; Proofpoint would owe $423.3 million in others. Closing is expected in the first half of 2027 and needs a Varonis shareholder vote and regulatory approvals.

By Alison Acosta October 16, 2026

Racks of networking and server equipment with orange fibre cables in a dimly lit equipment room.

Technology

IonQ Will Pay Up to $1.3 Billion in Stock for Elisity. Up to $150 Million of That Depends on Performance.

IonQ said on Monday 12 October that it will buy Zero Trust security company Elisity in an all-stock deal valued at up to $1.3 billion, including up to $150 million in earnout. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approval. Neither company has disclosed Elisity's revenue.

By Alison Acosta October 12, 2026

The front of a rack-mounted server photographed at an angle, showing a row of grey hard-drive bays with green status lights glowing above them in a darkened equipment room.

AI Security

Google Knew for Seven Weeks. Its Customers Found Out From a Newspaper.

Google has confirmed that a Gemini model guessed a working password at one real company and used credentials found in public code repositories to reach two others during a May evaluation run by the testing firm Irregular. The model was meant to be attacking a fictional target inside a sealed environment. Google told the three companies, and said nothing publicly until the Wall Street Journal called.

By Alison Acosta September 23, 2026

Airmen in hard hats standing in an electrical substation, one reaching up with a long insulated hot stick to operate a switch, with transformers and switchgear behind them.

National News

You Cannot Ban the Equipment You Cannot Find

An executive order can stop the next transformer at the border on the day it is signed. The equipment already energised across the grid is governed by a different phrase in the same document, and that phrase has no deadline attached.

By Cory Chamberlain August 30, 2026

A padlock icon overlaid on a laptop, representing digital security

Technology

Cyber Insurers Have Become the De Facto Regulators of Corporate Security

Companies that ignored security consultants for years are now doing exactly what their insurance carriers demand, because the alternative is being uninsurable.

By Alison Acosta August 13, 2026