Cradlepoint, a business 5G solutions leader and part of Ericsson, has announced its acquisition of Ericom Software and its advanced enterprise cloud security platform. This move is aimed at reinforcing Cradlepoint’s SASE (secure access service edge) and zero trust offerings for hybrid 5G and wireline environments.

The acquisition of Ericom Software is a crucial part of Cradlepoint’s overall strategy of building a full-stack enterprise security service optimised for 5G. Ericom’s zero trust and cloud-based security solutions will serve as the foundation for the new Cradlepoint NetCloud Threat Defense cloud service. This will expand the company’s mobile-capable and router-integrated SASE and zero trust portfolio of solutions for fixed-site, remote worker, in-vehicle and IoT use cases.

According to Will Townsend, vice president and principal analyst of networking and security at Moor Insights & Strategy, “Networking and security are rapidly merging within the enterprise, and the cloud is increasingly leveraged as the preferred SASE delivery mechanism. Cradlepoint’s acquisition of Ericom and its zero trust security capabilities should position the company well to capitalise, especially in organisations considering a 5G-centric deployment approach.”

Ericom’s security solution provides organisations with a broad set of integrated security controls aligned with Gartner’s Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) framework, including secure web gateway (SWG), remote browser isolation (RBI), cloud access security broker (CASB), zero-trust network access (ZTNA), and more. The cloud-based security solution is delivered on a high-availability and distributed cloud network deployed across various tier-1 cloud infrastructure partners, giving it a global presence and the ability to enforce security policies close to users and the data and applications they need to access.

David Canellos, CEO of Ericom, said, “The combination of Cradlepoint’s expertise in enterprise networking and Ericom’s innovative SSE and zero trust security solutions will create a powerful capability to meet the increasing demand for cloud-based secure network solutions.” He further added that the acquisition enhances their ability to meet the cybersecurity needs of global enterprises as they accelerate their rapid adoption of 5G technologies.

Cradlepoint is a main driver of Ericsson’s enterprise aspirations and is a leader in 5G for business solutions. Its SD-WAN and security strategy is based on the belief that enterprises will not deploy multiple vendor solutions to address their wireless and wireline network infrastructures. Therefore, Cradlepoint will offer the NetCloud Threat Defense cloud service built to interoperate with the company’s recently announced NetCloud Exchange SD-WAN offering. While optimised for 5G, NetCloud Threat Defense will be available for enterprise-wide deployment across any infrastructure.

George Mulhern, CEO of Cradlepoint and SVP of Ericsson’s Enterprise Wireless Solutions group, said, “Cradlepoint is pleased to welcome Ericom and its advanced, cloud-based security and zero trust products and technology to our family of enterprise wireless solutions. We can now deliver a comprehensive SD-WAN and SASE solution for Wireless WAN and private cellular networking, leveraging 5G while addressing the wireline needs of enterprise customers.”