Google Acquires Security Specialist Zynamics

Just days after Intel officially closed its acquisition of McAfee comes the news that Google has acquired German security firm Zynamics.

Founded in 2004 by CEO Halvar Flake (Thomas Dullien), Zynamics builds reverse-engineering tools for offensive and defensive security that help find security vulnerabilities within applications.

According to Zynamics, its tools can be used to help understand security updates, identify FOSS (free and open-source software) code in binaries, and identify flaws in closed-source software and build input to trigger them.

Analysis Tools

The security firm’s portfolio includes four analysis tools: BinDiff, VxClass, BinNavi and BinCrowd.

BinDiff is a comparison tool for binary files that assists vulnerability researchers and engineers in analysing similarities and differences in disassembled code. VxClass, meanwhile, can structurally compare executables and ignore byte-level changes such as instruction reordering or string obfuscation, according to the company’s Website.

Zynamics also offers BinNavi, which it describes as a binary code reverse-engineering tool that was built to assist vulnerability researchers who look for vulnerabilities in disassembled code, and BinCrowd, which can be used to create a central repository of reverse-engineered disassembly information and share this information.

Skills Boost

Google offered little specific information about how the Zynamics technology will be used.

“We’re delighted to have the Zynamics team aboard and hope their tools and skills in fighting malware will help us better protect Google’s users,” a spokesperson told eWEEK.