Darktrace has acquired Mira Security, a provider of advanced network traffic visibility solutions, to enhance its Network Detection and Response (NDR) platform with deep insight into encrypted traffic and high-performance inline decryption. The deal builds on a pre-existing technology partnership and is aimed at closing visibility gaps in encrypted data without degrading network performance or requiring re-architecture. Financial terms were not disclosed.
By integrating Mira’s in-line decryption and high-throughput firmware capabilities, Darktrace will offer deeper visibility across cloud, hybrid, and on-prem environments—particularly vital for regulated industries such as financial services, government, and critical infrastructure. Mira’s engineering teams in South Africa and the U.S. will join Darktrace’s R&D division to drive development of 100 Gbps interfaces, higher data ingestion rates, and new hardware capabilities.
- Darktrace acquires Mira Security to close blind spots in encrypted network traffic
- Mira’s inline decryption technology will be integrated with Darktrace’s AI-driven NDR
- Engineering teams to help develop 100 Gbps interfaces and advanced network defense hardware
- Mira was founded by Netronome’s Niel Viljoen; core expertise in high-speed traffic inspection
- Darktrace founded in 2013 by Cambridge mathematicians and UK intelligence veterans; IPO in 2021
“The acquisition of Mira Security is another building block in our strategy to develop best-in-class cybersecurity solutions and keep our customers safe through continuous innovation,” said Phil Pearson, Chief Strategy Officer at Darktrace.
🌐 Background
Mira Security was founded by Niel Viljoen, a networking industry veteran best known for founding Netronome, which developed flow processors and network acceleration technologies. Building on that legacy, Mira focused on high-speed, inline decryption and intelligent traffic inspection—key tools for gaining visibility into encrypted data flows in real-time. The company’s technology enables organizations to detect threats hidden within encrypted traffic while maintaining compliance and performance, a growing challenge in today’s zero-trust and privacy-centric environments.
Darktrace, founded in 2013 in Cambridge, UK, was launched by a team of mathematicians from the University of Cambridge along with intelligence veterans from MI5 and GCHQ. Its founding team included Poppy Gustafsson (CEO), Jack Stockdale (CTO), Dave Palmer, Emily Orton, and Nicole Eagan. The company pioneered self-learning AI for cybersecurity and is known for its “cyber immune system” approach, using unsupervised machine learning to detect novel threats in real-time. Early backing came from Invoke Capital, led by Autonomy founder Mike Lynch. Today, Darktrace protects nearly 10,000 organizations globally and continues to expand its ActiveAI Security Platform across networks, cloud, and email environments.
🌐 Why it Matters:
As encrypted traffic becomes the default across enterprise networks, the ability to inspect and understand that traffic—without violating privacy or compromising performance—has become a strategic imperative. Mira Security’s capabilities address one of the most pressing blind spots in modern cybersecurity. For Darktrace, the acquisition not only strengthens its core AI-based detection but also accelerates its hardware roadmap to handle hyperscale deployments. This move reflects a broader industry trend toward integrating inline visibility, high-throughput packet processing, and AI-driven analytics into unified threat defense systems.
