Global cybersecurity leader CrowdStrike has entered into an agreement to acquire SGNL, a Palo Alto, California-based firm leading the field of continuous identity security.
Based in Austin, Texas, CrowdStrike explained that the merger will extend dynamic authorization across software-as-a-service and hyperscaler cloud access layers. According to the announcement, combining dynamic privilege and access with its Falcon platform intelligence will set a new standard for independently acting identity security.
“AI agents operate with superhuman speed and access, making every agent a privileged identity that must be protected,” CrowdStrike founder and CEO George Kurtz said in the announcement. “With SGNL, CrowdStrike will deliver continuous, real-time access control that eliminates the known and unknown gaps from legacy standing privileges. This is identity security for the AI era.”
Kutz explained that identity security is becoming one of cybersecurity’s biggest and quickest growing segments. According to IT research company International Data Corporation, the market for identity security is forecast to increase substantially, from $29 billion currently to $56 million by 2029.
The announcement notes that non-human identities continue to expand in the workforce, and that often these high-privilege identities function with “access to data, applications, compute resources,” and more. As a result, this shift can also expose more risks, as artificial intelligence (AI) identities tend to operate autonomously.
By acquiring SGNL, CrowdStrike will be able to continuously evaluate identity, device, and behavior to dynamically grant, deny, or revoke access as conditions change.
“SGNL was founded to connect access decisions with business reality,” SGNL co-founder and CEO Scott Kriz said in the announcement. “Joining CrowdStrike provides us with global scale natively through cybersecurity’s leading platform to transform enterprise security with continuous identity, furthering CrowdStrike’s mission of stopping breaches.”
Key features of the new SNGL and Falcon platform will include eliminating standing privileges for humans and AI agents, accessing enforcement across all major identity systems, identifying governance and downstream protection, and unifying hybrid identity security.
While the purchase price was not disclosed in the announcement, CrowdStrike suggested that it would be paid predominantly in cash and would also include a portion in the form of stocks, subject to vesting conditions. The proposed acquisition is expected to close during the first quarter of CrowdStrike’s 2027 fiscal year.
Founded in 2011, CrowdStrike provides a cloud Falcon platform designed to prevent, detect, and respond to cyber threats. It uses AI behavioral analytics as well as global threat intelligence to stop breaches before they happen. Its 29,000 customers include Google, Amazon, and the U.S. federal government.
SGNL was founded in 2021 by product and engineering leaders from firms including Google, Okta, and Microsoft. An identity security firm, it provides a continuous identity platform that manages and enforces access in real time for humans and non-human identities.
