SecurityWeek reports 37 cybersecurity deals announced in October

SecurityWeek reports that 37 cybersecurity merger and acquisition deals were announced in October 2026. Among the headline transactions, Absolute Security agreed to acquire FirmGuard, the UEFI BIOS firmware security unit of Phoenix Technologies, with the aim of integrating FirmGuard into Absolute’s firmware-embedded Persistence technology to bolster below-the-OS management, firmware integrity monitoring, patching and compliance enforcement.

Belgian security firm Aikido Security bought OutKept and Cyberly, using the deals to launch Noon, a workforce security unit that combines phishing simulations, security awareness training and AI-powered vulnerability tooling. Anthropic announced it would acquire Opaque Systems, a confidential AI company with roots at UC Berkeley, described by Anthropic as involving licensing of Opaque’s technology and some engineer hires, though financial terms were not disclosed.

Other notable October 2026 deals include Cohere signing a letter of intent to acquire AISLE, a startup focused on autonomous AI systems that patch vulnerabilities, with AISLE’s leadership joining Cohere as part of Cohere Cyber. Hex-Rays said it would acquire HexAI, an Israeli AI tooling startup, in a deal reportedly worth $30 million to $35 million, to bolster AI-powered research capabilities.

IonQ disclosed a plan to acquire Elisity, a zero-trust firm, in an all‑stock arrangement valued up to $1.3 billion (including up to $150 million in performance earnouts), combining post-quantum cryptography and quantum key distribution with Elisity’s IdentityGraph. Finally, Proofpoint agreed to acquire Varonis for roughly $6.3 billion in cash to offer a unified platform for data discovery, protection, access control and data loss prevention.