2025 Cybersecurity M&A: AI Threats x Cloud Hegemony x Identity Consolidation

2025 marked a decisive turning point for the cybersecurity industry, signaling the end of the 'best-of-breed' approach that had dominated the previous decade and a shift toward 'platformization.' The prevailing thesis shared among Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and institutional investors has changed dramatically. While it was once recommended to combine specialized, cutting-edge tools, 'complexity' is now viewed as the enemy of security. Fragmented environments containing a mix of 50 to 80 different security tools have become unsustainable, leading to increased operational costs and the collapse of risk management.