Threat detection company Lastline has been acquired by VMware for an undisclosed fee, the two companies have confirmed, with the firm’s services feeding into the cloud giant’s security portfolio.

Lastline’s cloud-based security services focus mostly on networks and range from malware analysis to global threat intelligence. In merging with VMware, the company hopes to offer a broader range of security products that complement many of the cloud giant’s platforms – from workload protection to the data centre.

The move, however, will result in approximately 40% of Lastline’s workforce being axed as part of the acquisition, according to Tech Crunch. This equates with roughly 50 employees.

VMware has retained a focus on supporting multi-cloud environments and cloud-native hybrid deployments, with platforms such as vSphere available in a variety of cloud configuration and hosting environments. The company has also pursued a strategy of integrating security functionality and threat detection into apps, workloads, networks, users, and endpoint devices.

“By joining forces with VMware, we will be able to offer additional capabilities to our customers and bring to market comprehensive security solutions for the data centre, branch office and remote and mobile users,” said Lastline CEO John Dilullo.  

“In recent years, Lastline has enjoyed tremendous growth, acclaim for its AI-based threat detection capabilities, and most recently, recognition for pioneering successes with our Network Detection and Response (NDR) and Public Cloud security solutions.”

The firm only last month announced plans to acquire Kubernetes security firm Octarine, which will be bundled in Carbon Black as part of VMware’s long-term security vision. The Octarine integration allows VMware to enhance its security services for containers and Kubernetes environments by embedding the technology into the VMware Carbon Black Cloud, as well as the VMware Tanzu platform.

This, of course, follows the major Carbon Black acquisition in August last year, with subsequent moves feeding into the company’s vision to become a leading provider of cloud-native security platforms.

Lastline, which was founded in 2011, occupies a late-stage venture funding status, according to Crunchbase, and has received $52.2 million of funding to date.