Skyhigh Networks

Skyhigh Networks, now known as the MVISION Cloud Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP) under Trellix, carved out a significant niche in the cloud security market. The company was established in 2011 by Rajiv Gupta, Sekhar Sarukkai, and Kaushik Narayan, individuals with substantial prior experience in the technology and security sectors. Gupta, for instance, had a notable career at Cisco and was the founder of Securent, which was later acquired by Cisco. This deep-seated expertise in enterprise security directly informed the company's strategic direction and product development, aiming to address the security challenges arising from the corporate shift to cloud services.

The firm positioned itself as a Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), providing a critical control point for the secure use of cloud services across multiple providers. It targeted enterprise clients struggling to maintain visibility and control over their data as it moved into third-party cloud applications like Salesforce, Box, and Microsoft Office 365. Skyhigh's business model was centered on a subscription-based service, offering its platform to large enterprises seeking to enforce their security policies in the cloud. The platform operated by discovering all cloud services in use, assessing the risk associated with each, and enforcing security policies to prevent data loss and respond to threats.

The core offering was a comprehensive cloud security platform that delivered functionalities such as data loss prevention (DLP), encryption, access control, and threat detection. One of its distinguishing features was the ability to provide a detailed analysis of cloud usage and risk, enabling companies to understand their 'shadow IT'—the unsanctioned use of cloud apps by employees. The platform could encrypt or tokenize sensitive data before it was sent to the cloud, ensuring that even if a cloud provider was breached, the data would remain unreadable. This focus on enabling secure cloud adoption resonated with the market, leading to significant milestones, including substantial funding rounds and culminating in its acquisition by McAfee in 2017 for an undisclosed sum, solidifying its position as a key player in the CASB space.

Keywords: cloud security, CASB, data loss prevention, cloud visibility, shadow IT, enterprise security, threat protection, access control, data encryption, MVISION Cloud