Yahoo Finance

Why Arctic Wolf is buying BlackBerry’s cybersecurity unit: CEO

On Monday, Arctic Wolf announced an agreement to acquire BlackBerry's (BB) cybersecurity segment, "Cylance." Arctic Wolf CEO and president Nick Schneider joins Market Domination Overtime with Josh Lipton to discuss the deal, which is worth up to $160 million, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the cybersecurity space, and whether an initial public offering (IPO) is on the horizon for the company. Schneider says the acquisition "is going to give us some new capabilities native for endpoint protection, endpoint detection, and response. They have a deep history and pedigree in AI. And when you combine the pedigree of Cylance, the efficacy of their solution with the Arctic Wolf Aurora platform while remaining open with our open XDR platform, I think we're going to be able to provide outcomes to customers that they've been looking for a long time." The CEO notes that AI is being "used offensively by bad actors on an ongoing basis, but also picking up steam with vendors like Arctic Wolf ... to ensure that we're defending against those attacks. So I think AI is here to stay within cybersecurity." He adds that cybersecurity "demand is strong and, in particular, here as we exit the year, it seems to be strengthening." When asked whether Arctic Wolf is expecting an IPO in 2025, Schneider tells Yahoo Finance "We're focused right now on building a really strong business." The CEO adds, "I think Arctic Wolf, at some point in our tenure, will be a publicly traded company. We're just waiting for the opportune time for a combination of the market and Arctic Wolf's business and strategy to align. And when that's the case, we'll be there." To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination Overtime here. This post was written by Naomi Buchanan.