Data Loss Prevention (DLP) , Endpoint Security
AI Powers Cyera’s $162M Buy of Data Security Startup Trail
Trail Acquisition Brings Enhanced DLP, DSPM Integration, Safeguards Data in MotionCyera purchased a startup led by a former Israeli Military Intelligence data science manager to bring data loss prevention and data security posture management together.
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The New York-based based data security upstart said its $162 million acquisition of Tel Aviv-based Trail Security will help Cyera more effectively use artificial intelligence to protect data in motion and at rest, said co-founder and CEO Yotam Segev. The use of AI has enabled Trail's DLP tool to move beyond legacy, static patterns, while client demand for unified data security drove the decision to join forces.
"Trail and Cyera share a mutual understanding about the ability of AI to really unlock data protection," Segev told Information Security Media Group. "One of the biggest challenges in data protection was that it was so hard to understand the data and to understand what should and shouldn't happen with the data. These are exactly the type of things that AI does so well."
Trail, founded in September 2023, employs 40 people - including 30 engineers - and is led by Zohar Vittenberg, who graduated from Israel's Talpiot military technology training program a year after Segev. Vittenberg then worked on natural language processing and information retrieval projects as a data science manager in Israel's Unit 8200 before being chief of staff at go-to-market data firm Explorium (see: Cyera Gets $300M at $1.4B Valuation to Fuel Safe AI Adoption).
Why DSPM, DLP Are Better Together
AI allows both Cyera and Trail to go beyond traditional static methods of data protection, providing dynamic, real-time security that adapts to an organization's needs, with Cyera focusing on data at rest and trail focusing on data in motion. Cyera and Trail currently use AI to enhance DSPM and DLP, respectively, and Segev said customers want a single platform that covers all of data security.
"We build on top this of this new gen AI technology from day one," Vittenberg told ISMG. "We knew that there's an opportunity here to actually understand the organization's data and to be able to protect it. It gives you more coverage and protection of more types of data that is set to understand what is sensitive. This combination of protecting more but also making it more accurate is the drive here."
Specifically, customers wants DSPM insights - which are used for identifying vulnerabilities in stored data - to be tied to DLP, which focuses on protection as data moves around. Trail's DLP system is a significant improvement over traditional tools that use static patterns and manual configurations, with the firm's AI-driven automation reducing false positives and ensuring that security doesn't hinder productivity.
"The primary driver for us was customers - which seesaws across both of our customer base and the industry - constantly telling Zara and myself, 'These companies belong together. Please combine forces,'" Segev said. "And we found a way to make it happen. And we couldn't be more excited."
How Cyera's Data Security Platform Stacks Up to Rivals
Segev said the acquisition positions Cyera and Trail to be a stronger competitor in the data security space, particularly against firms that also offer DSPM and DLP solutions. While Netskope this week combined its DLP with Dasera's DSPM via acquisition, Segev said the Cyera-Trail combination offers superior AI-driven insights and a more comprehensive approach to building data security programs.
"I think that the Cyera-Trail combination is the strongest platform in the market for building, running and operating a data security program," Segev said. "We understand data better than everybody else, and we allow customers to build operational programs to protect data better than anybody else."
Segev wants to create a more seamless and fully integrated solution, where data insights from Cyera's DSPM tool directly inform Trail's DLP policies in real time, making data protection faster and more automated. Combining AI-driven insights from DSPM with DLP's policy enforcement will allow for seamless protection of data in both rest and motion with minimal manual intervention, Segev said.
"The approach is to take the intelligence around the sensitive data that's coming from DSPM and propagate it into controls and preventative measures in the DLP systems that the customers already have in place," Segev said. "That's going to allow us to turn DSPM from a vulnerability management-type of workflow to an operational DLP preventative workflow."
The first acquisition in Cyera's three-year history is part of a broader strategy to dominate the data security market, with the company pursuing both organic expansion into identity management over the next year as well as a further M&A to push into adjacent markets. Cyera in April closed a $300 million funding round at a $1.4 billion valuation, and expects its R&D team to grow to 500 employees by 2027 (see: Cyera Raises $100M to Bring Data Protection to Hybrid Cloud).
"This is not our last move," Segev said. "We also have an organic move into the identity space to couple data and identity and bring those capabilities together. And we have many other moves planned over the next year in order to disrupt this side the market and bring the most cutting-edge capabilities to data security that customers are so eager for these days."