eSentire, the managed detection and response provider, has announced the acquisition of Seattle-based Versive — a cyber security AI company that delivers advanced threat detection and automation with its platform.

The news was accompanied by senior leadership appointments of former Versive executives; Dustin Rigg Hillard as CTO, Ashley Fidler as Vice President, Product and Matthew Vanderzee as Vice President, Engineering.

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“Traditional managed security approaches and tools can’t rapidly scale to cope with the challenges of today’s business environments,” said Kerry Bailey, CEO, eSentire.

“Merging expert data scientists, engineers, and security teams and integrating the power of AI into eSentire services will result in the most advanced MDR platform delivering the scalability, automation, and speed that the modern organization demands without sacrificing quality.”

A growing attack surface area

Increasing data volumes, new computing environments (cloud and hybrid), and more porous networks — such as the IoT and BYOD — mean that the cyber attack surface is larger and more dynamic than ever before.

By 2025, there will be a projected 163 zettabytes of digital data in existence, a tenfold increase from 2016. The scale of data growth, combined with the evolution of digital adversaries and the democratisation of hacking tools and skills, necessitates human analysts be equipped with machine-scale technologies.

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“Organisations simply cannot keep pace with the rate at which cyber threats are emerging and evolving, especially in the age of digital transformation,” said Mike Sapien, Chief Analyst, Enterprise Services, Ovum.

“This new-normal environment is driving the growth of the MDR market and leading companies like eSentire within it. The acquisition of Versive, a leading artificial intelligence technology company is a natural progression as eSentire looks to enhance its AI and data science capabilities. Versive’s technology will enable eSentire to manage, respond and shut down bad actors in real time at greater scale and accuracy.”