In a blog about the acquisition, John Maddison, chief marketing officer with Fortinet, said that Lacework offers patented AI and machine-learning technology, an agent and agentless architecture for data collection, a homegrown data lake, and a powerful code security offering that integrates Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform services to protect what’s happening inside the cloud.

“We intend to make the platform even more powerful by integrating it with Fortinet’s firewall and WAAP capabilities to further help customers identify, prioritize, and remediate risks and threats in complex cloud-native infrastructure from code to cloud,” Madison stated. “Specifically, the combination will allow customers to protect what’s happening inside the cloud app along with what’s happening between the app and the outside world.”

Lacework is part of the cloud workload protection platform ecosystem that a recent report from Frost & Sullivan calls highly fragmented, comprising cloud service providers, traditional network and endpoint security vendors, vulnerability assessment vendors, and start-ups specializing in cloud security. More than 50 vendors compete in the CWPP space globally, including Palo Alto, Microsoft, Broadcom/VMware Carbone Black, Wiz and Check Point. Until recently, Wiz had been heavily rumored to be acquiring Lacework.