Experts suggest that if Google successfully acquires cloud security startup Wiz, it will bolster its cloud security capabilities for large businesses and allow it to compete with cloud rivals Microsoft and Amazon.com.

According to a person with knowledge of the situation on Sunday, Alphabet is in advanced talks to acquire Wiz for up to $23 billion. This would be Google's most expensive acquisition to date and give it access to cybersecurity solutions that protect against ransomware gangs that target big businesses.

Wiz provides tools that let businesses check for risks in their specific software and overall infrastructure.

In recent years, Google has gradually increased the range of cybersecurity products it offers. It paid $5.4 billion to acquire the well-known cyber outfit Mandiant two years ago.

At the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Wiz was formed, well-positioned to profit from the change in work towards remote work and the organization's transition away from desktops to cloud settings. Over time, the majority of large organizations have also moved to cloud storage for their data, but this has increased security vulnerabilities, particularly as businesses grow and become more sophisticated.

Its founders, who were formerly intelligence officers in the Israeli army, had previously launched Adallom, a cloud security company that Microsoft acquired in 2015 for $320 million.

Since then, the New York-based business has expanded quickly. At the RSA cybersecurity conference in San Francisco just two months prior, Wiz stated that its valuation was $12 billion. According to an unnamed source involved with the Google deal talks, it has raised close to $2 billion in venture capital investment overall and now projects $1 billion in annual organic income by 2025.

The Wiz takeover negotiations are taking place in 2024, a year in which worldwide cybersecurity dealmaking has accelerated dramatically. According to data from the financial information firm Dealogic, there were 120 worldwide cybersecurity deals reported in the first half of this year, accounting for $12.4 billion in deal value. Last year, there were 137 such deals, or $4.8 billion in deal value.