Palo Alto Networks will buy Israeli security biz CyberArk in a $25 billion cash-and-stock deal confirmed today.

It's Palo Alto Networks' largest purchase to date, and one of the most expensive acquisitions this year coming in behind Google paying $32 billion for cloud security upstart Wiz in March.

CyberArk provides identity security and privileged access management tools, which have become increasingly important to enterprises who need to not only verify and secure human identities, but also machines and AIs. 

"Today, the rise of AI and the explosion of machine identities have made it clear that the future of security must be built on the vision that every identity requires the right level of privilege controls," Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora said in a statement announcing the purchase.

Machine identities outnumber those of humans by 40 to one, according to CyberArk, and this number is expected to skyrocket as more companies use AI agents.

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The move also boosts Palo Alto Networks' "platform strategy," as it aims to pack all of the security capabilities into a single, unified product — with all sorts of add-ons available for purchase, of course.

"Over the past several years, Palo Alto Networks has been on a mission to become a huge platform player in the security market," Forrester analyst Allie Mellen said in an email to The Register. "Given its product portfolio as it stands today, identity security capabilities are a missing piece of that puzzle. This acquisition rounds out its approach, given its existing cloud, network, and endpoint security products."

Under the terms of the deal, CyberArk investors will receive $45 in cash and 2.2005 shares of Palo Alto Networks common stock for each CyberArk share they own. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of Palo Alto Networks' fiscal 2026. ®