Cloudflare buys Sydney-founded Kivera to boost SASE offerings

Global internet security and network performance company Cloudflare has acquired Kivera, a cloud security, data protection, and compliance firm, founded in Sydney in 2019 by Neil Brown and Vernon Jefferson.

Cloudflare said the aim of the Kivera deal is to enhance its Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) portfolio, introducing inline cloud app controls to its Cloudflare One platform.

The acquisition aims to address the growing challenges faced by organisations as they increasingly rely on cloud services and SaaS applications for daily operations.

With the surge in data flow between organisations and cloud providers, the risk of data leakage, compliance issues, and potential security breaches has escalated.

Kivera's technology will integrate with Cloudflare One to provide preventive, inline controls for enforcing secure configurations of cloud resources.

This proactive approach allows organisations to block errors before they occur, offering a significant advantage over traditional Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) tools.

Key capabilities added to Cloudflare's SASE platform through this acquisition include one-click security to prevent common cloud breaches, enforced cloud tenant control, and data exfiltration prevention.

The enhanced platform will also help reduce 'shadow' cloud infrastructure, streamline cloud security compliance, and offer a flexible DevOps model.

Cloudflare One customers will benefit from a unified platform for all inline protections, including cloud control, access management, and threat and data protection.

The company claims this integration offers single-pass inspection that is 50 per cent faster than traditional Secure Web Gateway (SWG) alternatives.

This acquisition follows Cloudflare's earlier purchase of BastionZero, a Zero Trust infrastructure access company, further expanding its VPN replacement solution.

Together, Kivera and BastionZero enable centralized security management across hybrid IT environments, aligning with DevOps practices and Zero Trust principles.

Cloudflare positions this acquisition as a key component of its connectivity cloud strategy, allowing organisations to consolidate IT security tools on a single platform.

Kivera relocated from Sydney to New York City soon after its founding in 2019, and received $5.1 million in startup funding to enter the North American markets in 2023.

Terms of the deal with Cloudflare were not disclosed.