Red Hat to acquire container security firm StackRox

Red Hat said Thursday that it plans to acquire container and Kubernetes-native security provider StackRox. Red Hat said it will use the deal to bring StackRox's security software to its OpenShift Kubernetes platform. 

The StackRox software aims to provide visibility across Kubernetes clusters by deploying components for enforcement and data collection directly into the Kubernetes cluster infrastructure. StackRox also provides a policy engine that includes hundreds of built-in controls to enforce security best practices, industry standards and configuration management.

With StackRox, Red Hat said it will focus on improving security for cloud-native workloads by expanding and refining Kubernetes' native controls, and shifting security into the container build and CI/CD phase.

"Securing Kubernetes workloads and infrastructure cannot be done in a piecemeal manner; security must be an integrated part of every deployment, not an afterthought," said Red Hat CEO Paul Cormier. "Red Hat adds StackRox's Kubernetes-native capabilities to OpenShift's layered security approach, furthering our mission to bring product-ready open innovation to every organization across the open hybrid cloud across IT footprints."

Red Hat said it plans to open source StackRox's technology after the acquisition closes. In addition to OpenShift, StackRox will continue to support multiple Kubernetes platforms, including Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service, Microsoft Azure Kubernetes Service, and Google Kubernetes Engine.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.