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Varonis Bets Big on AI Email Defense with SlashNext Acquisition

Varonis acquires SlashNext for $150M, adding AI-powered email and collaboration security to fight phishing, BEC scams, and social engineering.

Written By

Allison Francis

Sep 3, 2025

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Varonis has long been known for protecting data wherever it lives. With its recently announced acquisition of SlashNext, the company is adding email and collaboration tools to the equation. The deal, valued at up to $150 million, brings predictive AI-based email security straight to the Varonis platform.

SlashNext was founded in 2017 and has made a name for itself by tackling some of the most challenging problems in security: advanced phishing and social engineering attacks that evade traditional defenses and infiltrate inboxes, Slack channels, and Teams chats.

Closing the gap that hackers love to exploit

If attackers can trick a user into clicking, typing, or sharing, it doesn’t matter how strong the rest of the defenses are. Email and messaging platforms are still the top entry point for data breaches, and that’s exactly the gap Varonis is now addressing.

“The acquisition of SlashNext is a natural evolution of our platform and significantly expands our total addressable market,” said Yaki Faitelson, CEO and co-founder, Varonis. “By connecting the dots between email, identity, and data we will dramatically increase the value of our MDDR service and help customers stop threats in their inbox, where many data breaches begin.”

“At SlashNext, we built a fast, automated solution to stop advanced threats across communication channels,” added Atif Mushtaq, founder and CPO, SlashNext. “I’m excited to join the Varonis team on their mission to protect the world’s data, giving customers end-to-end protection from the first point of attack to the last.”

Built for an AI-riddled threat minefield

Phishing campaigns and Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams are now being generated and scaled by AI, making them extremely convincing and harder to spot. SlashNext has leveraged this plot hole by developing models that utilize computer vision, natural language processing, and even virtual browsers to flag and remove threats before they reach a human.

In a recent test conducted by the Tolly Group, SlashNext achieved a 99% overall detection accuracy, including a perfect 100% against BEC and QR code-based attacks. That performance topped providers like Mimecast and Abnormal Security.

More than just another acquisition

For Varonis, this is really about stitching together a complete picture of where risk originates, which can be pinpointed to data, identity, and now the inbox. The move turns Varonis into a more comprehensive security partner for CISOs who are tired of having to juggle point solutions.

Varonis isn’t the only security player moving deeper into email. Malwarebytes announced a new AI-powered email security module for its ThreatDown platform in July, unifying endpoint and inbox defense through IRONSCALES technology and the Nebula console. Read more about Malwarebytes’ latest move here.

Allison Francis

Allison is a contributing writer for Channel Insider, specializing in news for IT service providers. She has crafted diverse marketing, public relations, and online content for top B2B and B2C organizations through various roles. Allison has extensive experience with small to midsized B2B and channel companies, focusing on brand-building, content and education strategy, and community engagement. With over a decade in the industry, she brings deep insights and expertise to her work. In her personal life, Allison enjoys hiking, photography, and traveling to the far-flung places of the world.

Varonis Bets Big on AI Email Defense with SlashNext Acquisition

Closing the gap that hackers love to exploit

Built for an AI-riddled threat minefield

More than just another acquisition

Allison Francis

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