This may not be the best time to bring up an oil reference.
But here goes.
When British mathematician and entrepreneur Clive Humby coined the phrase "Data is the new oil," in 2006, even he may not have gauged the everlasting impact his words would have 15 years later.
Even today, tech giants continue to grapple to find the best ways to protect user data for clients as hackers continue to discover blind spots.
With organizations facing cybersecurity challenges that have accelerated in frequency, severity and diversity, creating a global security imperative, Alphabet (GOOGL) owned Google has responded by beefing up its war chest.
In its second largest deal ever, the search giant has signed a definitive agreement to acquire cybersecurity firm Mandiant, known for its strategic security advisory and incident response services, for close to $5.4 billion, the company said.
The company said, the deal with Mandiant will complement Google Cloud's existing strengths in security. With the addition of Mandiant, Google Cloud will enhance its existing data protection services like BeyondCorp and VirusTotal which analyzes suspicious files, domains, IPs and URLs to detect malware and other breaches.
Chronicle, part of Google Cloud security operations and Google's security command center, will also get upgrades and more tools to protect clients and respond to online threats.
"Organizations around the world are facing unprecedented cybersecurity challenges as the sophistication and severity of attacks that were previously used to target major governments are now being used to target companies in every industry," said Google Cloud Chief Executive Thomas Kurian in a statement.
Companies like Target (TGT), Goldman Sachs (GS), Home Depot (HD), Ulta (ULTA), Twitter (TWTR) and Etsy (ETSY) among others trust Google Cloud services to stay safe on the internet.
"There has never been a more critical time in cybersecurity. Since our founding in 2004, Mandiant's mission has been to combat cyber attacks and protect our customers from the latest threats," said Mandiant Chief Executive Kevin Mandia in a statement.
Google Vs. Microsoft
According to a Bloomberg report, rival Microsoft (MSFT) "pulled out of talks" to buy Mandiant, a week ago, in what seems to have been a competitive bidding war.
"Microsoft ended its takeover discussions on concerns that Mandiant’s collection of security businesses wasn’t a good enough strategic fit," Bloomberg reported citing unnamed sources.
Last year, Google and Microsoft unveiled plans to spend billions of dollars to shore up US digital defences.
In August, last year, Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said Alphabet’s Google unit would invest more than $10 billion in cybersecurity during the next five years.
Pichai has in the past supported the idea of stringent online privacy laws like the General Data Protection Regulation that exists in Europe.
Pichai also noted that “one of the biggest risks to privacy is the data getting compromised," as reported by news website TechCrunch.
Security Hacks Galore
There have been several high-profile attacks on US infrastructure, as well as a rapid rise of ransomware attacks affecting businesses and public services.
Last year in March, Microsoft's Exchange email software was hacked by Chinese attackers in a significant data breach that affected tens of thousands of customers, including small businesses and local governments.
More recently chip maker Nvidia (NVDA) has been fending off a massive cyber attack for several weeks now, and Korean giant Samsung (SSNLF) recently divulged that it has been targeted by the same group of hackers.
The Lapsus$ ransomware group claimed responsibility for the Nvidia breach last week.
