Email and data-security company Mimecast is buying Israeli security software developer Solebit in an $88 million deal.

Solebit’s technology identifies and isolates zero-day malware and unknown threats in data files as well as links to external resources. Further enhancing Mimecast’s platform architecture, Solebit provides threat protection designed to help customers face today’s broad threat landscape with evasion-aware, signature-less technology.

Julian Martin, Mimecast’s vice president of global channels and operations, tells Channel Futures Solebit has developed a differentiated approach to threat detection.

“This approach results in better detection capabilities and faster processing — a rare combination as stronger security typically comes with trade-offs in terms of poorer performance and higher hardware costs,” he said. “Mimecast quickly recognized the power of what Solebit provided to Mimecast and our customers, leading to the decision to make Solebit’s technology uniquely ours.”

Julian Martin

Julian Martin

Through its OEM relationship with Solebit, Mimecast has realized “firsthand the power of what the unique and game-changing technology provides to the security landscape — the opportunity to detect threats with significantly stronger efficacy in a way that is much faster and cost effective than conventional approaches,” Martin said.

“Solebit has been an integral part of the Mimecast security layer for some time,” he said. “However, with it now being part of the Mimecast technology set, this allows us to further develop internally the capabilities and extend deeper into the other service aspects, web security being the obvious one. This, in turn, provides our partners with the comfort that what they are positioning with their customers is the very best technology available needed to address the multivector, expanding threat landscape.”

Last month, Mimecast acquired cybersecurity training startup Ataata.

“The Mimecast-Solebit combination has the power to deliver even greater cybersecurity and organizational resilience for Mimecast customers — both now and in the future,” Martin said. “This, combined with the recent acquisition of Ataata in the security awareness and training space, and the recently previewed early-adopter web security program, Solebit brings another important set of microservices to the Mime|OS platform that all of Mimecast’s unified services are built upon.”

In April, Mimecast launched a new partner program designed to bring uniformity to how the company works with global resellers.

“Security methods like signature-based antivirus and sandbox detonation are too limited when it comes to today’s most advanced threats,” said Peter Bauer, Mimecast’s CEO. “It’s time for a more capable, efficient and durable approach. We’re excited to welcome Solebit into the Mimecast family, as it helps us to offer customers a new approach that fundamentally improves their cybersecurity and resilience efficacy in the most efficient way on the market.”