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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesSecurityWeek counted 435 cybersecurity-related mergers and acquisitions announced in 2021 in a study published February 8, 2022. That is the publication’s dataset count—not a definitive census of every cybersecurity deal worldwide—and it does not mean every announced transaction was completed.
What SecurityWeek counted
SecurityWeek compiled announcements from news distribution services, Google searches and public-relations company pitches. It included companies issuing press releases that announced or mentioned acquisitions, as well as some deals privately reported to the publication. The article says it included a majority of announcements that mentioned “cybersecurity,” but it does not give a complete transaction-status cutoff.
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SecurityWeek cautioned that “Mergers and acquisitions that did not have an English-language announcement are likely not included.” As a result, the 435 figure reflects an English-language, announcement-led collection approach and may omit deals that were not announced in English.
The study also used broad category definitions. Its GRC grouping covered governance, compliance, risk management, audit, assessment, vulnerability management, penetration testing and cyber insurance. Network security included endpoint security, MDR, XDR, NDR, threat detection and SASE. Identity included IAM, PAM, secure access, authentication and authorization. Incident response covered SOAR, SIEM, SOC and forensics; “specialized” included blockchain, cryptocurrency, quantum, encryption and cryptography, lawful surveillance, and automotive cybersecurity. SecurityWeek’s study and methodology provide the underlying description.
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How much deal value was public?
Only 88 of the 435 deals had public financial details in SecurityWeek’s account. Of those disclosed deals, 11 were reported to exceed $1 billion, and more than 60 involved tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. Undisclosed deal values should not be interpreted as small transactions: the study simply could not report public financial details for most of its count.
The largest reported transaction values in the article included:
| Acquisition | Reported value in SecurityWeek’s February 2022 study |
|---|---|
| Thoma Bravo’s acquisition of Proofpoint | $12.3 billion |
| NortonLifeLock’s acquisition of Avast | $8.6 billion |
| Okta’s acquisition of Auth0 | $6.5 billion |
| Permira’s acquisition of Mimecast | $5.8 billion |
These are values as reported by SecurityWeek for those individual transactions; they are not an estimate of the total value of all 435 deals.
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Where did the deals take place?
SecurityWeek said most of the activity involved organizations in North America and Europe. By country, the United States led, followed by the United Kingdom and Israel. The article text available for this study does not state exact country counts, so the ranking should not be turned into percentages or precise market shares.
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Why do reports give different 2021 totals?
Other published counts cover different periods, geographies or company sets, and use different collection rules. They are useful context, but they are not interchangeable alternatives to SecurityWeek’s full-year global count.
| Publisher and report | Reported figure | Scope stated in the report |
|---|---|---|
| SecurityWeek, published 2022 | 435 announced deals | Global, full-year 2021; announcement-led study with some privately reported deals. Methodology and findings |
| Momentum Cyber, 2022 | 286 M&A deals | Its 2021 count; SecurityWeek explicitly noted that the two firms used different methodologies. Momentum Cyber |
| 451 Research, as reported by S&P Global, 2021 | 151 deals | U.S. cybersecurity M&A in the first three quarters of 2021, not a full-year global total. S&P Global’s report |
| Lincoln International, 2021 | 196 acquisitions; estimated $45 billion aggregate enterprise valuation | Cybersecurity-vendor acquisitions in the first half of 2021. Lincoln International’s report |
Before comparing totals, check whether a report counts announced or completed transactions, what it classifies as cybersecurity, its geography and time window, and how it finds deals. SecurityWeek’s 435, Momentum Cyber’s 286, the U.S.-only nine-month figure from 451 Research, and Lincoln International’s first-half vendor-focused estimate describe different scopes.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the activity may indicate
SecurityWeek connected the volume of deals to enterprise investment in cybersecurity and cloud architecture during pandemic-related remote work, as well as major cyberattacks. That is the publication’s explanation for the market context, not proof from the deal count that any one factor caused the acquisitions.
For readers tracking the financial side of cybersecurity, the study offers two distinct signals: a high volume of announced transactions and a much smaller set with publicly reported values. The count can help describe deal activity, but it cannot by itself establish total market value, the number of completed transactions, or the precise share of worldwide acquisitions captured.
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