Humio Acquisition: CrowdStrike Buys Logging Startup for $400M

Recent Acquisitions Signal a Shift in Cybersecurity

Just weeks ago, SentinelOne announced the acquisition of Scalyr, a high-speed logging platform, for $155 million. This morning, CrowdStrike followed suit, revealing its purchase of Humio, an unlimited logging tool, for $400 million.

Expanding Data Collection Capabilities

The acquisition of Humio equips CrowdStrike with the capacity to gather unlimited logging data. Traditionally, organizations are forced to prioritize which data to log and for how long. Humio eliminates this constraint, enabling customers to process multiple terabytes of data daily.

Humio as a Data Lake

Geeta Schmidt, CEO of Humio, described her company similarly to Scalyr in a recent blog post – as a data lake for log information.

“Humio functioned as a data lake for enterprises, facilitating extended search periods and integration of diverse data sources,” Schmidt explained. “This allowed them to comprehensively understand their environment, anticipate potential issues, proactively prevent incidents, swiftly recover from breaches, and pinpoint root causes.”

Real-Time Threat Response

Integrating Humio allows CrowdStrike to leverage this extensive data for real-time threat detection and response. This proactive approach contrasts with the traditional method of reacting to attacks and investigating their aftermath, a benefit also highlighted by SentinelOne following its Scalyr acquisition.

Enhanced XDR Capabilities

According to a statement by CrowdStrike CEO and co-founder George Kurtz, the synergy between CrowdStrike’s Threat Graph and Humio’s log management capabilities will significantly advance their Extended Detection and Response (XDR) offerings.

“The combination of real-time analytics and smart filtering, coupled with Humio’s index-free data ingestion, dramatically accelerates our XDR capabilities beyond current market standards,” Kurtz stated.

A Growing Trend in the Security Landscape

While only two acquisitions have occurred, it’s evident that security platforms are increasingly recognizing the value of processing large volumes of log data. Companies are now prepared to invest substantially to acquire this capability. It remains to be seen if other security firms will respond with similar acquisitions in the near future.

Humio’s Background and Funding

Founded in 2016, Humio secured over $31 million in funding, as reported by Pitchbook Data. Their latest funding round, a $20 million Series B, was led by Dell Technologies Capital in March 2020. This acquisition represents a successful exit for the startup.

CrowdStrike’s Growth and the Deal’s Timeline

CrowdStrike, established in 2011, raised over $480 million prior to its initial public offering in 2019. The acquisition is anticipated to be finalized in the first quarter, pending standard regulatory approvals.