Juniper buys web security company for $80 million

Juniper said this week it has acquired Mykonos Software, a provider of website and web application security software, for $80 million.

The purchase enables Juniper to offer software that detects an attacker before an attack is in progress. Juniper already offers products designed to protect against known attacks, but Mykonos develops deception-based software to protect against zero-day attacks and advanced persistent threats.

Mykonos’ software is designed to actively prevent attackers and stop zero-day web attacks by catching an attack in progress, profiling the attack, learning the attacker’s behavior, and then using that behavior to thwart future attacks.

Citing data from a Verizon report, Juniper says web applications are among the largest unprotected attack surfaces and the frequency of attack is increasing.

The Mykonos acquisition closed Feb. 13. Mykonos has been added to Juniper’s Security Business Unit, and its 14 employees will continue to work out of offices in San Francisco and Rochester, N.Y. Mykonos Chairman and CEO David Koretz will report to Nawaf Bitar, senior vice president and general manager of Juniper’s Security Business Unit.