Mastercard to buy cyber defence firm Recorded Future for $2.65bn

Mastercard said on Thursday that it has agreed to buy cyber defence company Recorded Future from Insight Partners for $2.65bn.

Recorded Future is the world’s largest threat intelligence company, with more than 1,900 clients across 75 countries, including the governments of 45 countries and over 50% of the Fortune 100, Mastercard said.

Currently, Recorded Future and Mastercard collaborate on an AI-supported service that alerts financial institutions more quickly and with greater accuracy when a card is likely to have been compromised.

Since its launch earlier this year, the service has doubled the rate in which compromised cards are identified, as compared to the same time period last year, Mastercard said.

Craig Vosburg, chief services officer at Mastercard, said: "Trust is the foundation of any relationship. Recorded Future adds to how we deliver that greater peace of mind before, during and after the payment transaction.

"Together we will innovate faster, create smarter models and anticipate emerging threats before cyberattacks can take place - in payments and beyond."

Christopher Ahlberg, the CEO of Recorded Future, said: "Fifteen years ago, we created Recorded Future with a simple goal to secure the world with intelligence. By joining Mastercard, we see an opportunity to help more businesses and governments determine the steps to realise their full potential - and to enable everyone to feel safer in their daily lives."