MASTERCARD agreed to buy a cyber-defence company Recorded Future for about US$2.7 billion to boost its ability to protect the card company’s massive global payments system.
The purchase will expand Mastercard’s ability to use artificial intelligence (AI) in protecting customers from cyber threats and fraud, said a statement on Thursday (Sep 12).
It acquired Recorded Future from private equity company Insight Partners, which took a controlling interest in the cyber-defence company in 2019 in an all-cash deal that valued the company at more than US$780 million.
The deal for Recorded Future, whose earliest investors included Alphabet’s Google Ventures and In-Q-Tel, the national-security focused venture fund that was established by the US Central Intelligence Agency, is the latest in the burgeoning market for cybersecurity and risk-management technologies.
Research company Gartner estimates that the market will increase 14 per cent this year to US$215 billion globally.
Recorded Future has more than 1,900 clients in 75 countries, Mastercard said, adding that cybercrime is expected to cost US$9.2 trillion globally this year.
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“Together we will innovate faster, create smarter models and anticipate emerging threats before cyberattacks can take place – in payments and beyond,” Craig Vosburg, Mastercard’s chief services officer, noted.
Mastercard has bolstered its global payments infrastructure and the troves of sensitive data that it processes with increased cybersecurity technology, but growing and evolving threats continue to cause trouble for the company and across the industry.
Mastercard already uses AI and its own tools to combat fraud, but Vosburg said that the company has for years looked at enhancing the security of payments transactions, and will continue to do so.
“We looked across the space – we see them as a leader in the space,” he said, referring to Recorded Future.
Like other cybersecurity intelligence firms, Recorded Future scours the dark web for sensitive personal information, alerting its customers to what it finds.
It also uses AI to detect geopolitical threats, among others. One thing that sets Recorded Future apart from other similar companies is its customer list, as well as how easy to understand and actionable the firm makes data, Vosburg said.
“By joining Mastercard, we see an opportunity to help more businesses and governments determine the steps to realise their full potential and to enable everyone to feel safer in their daily lives,” Recorded Future chief executive officer Christopher Ahlberg added.
The acquisition is expected to be completed by the first quarter of next year. BLOOMBERG
