What Is Thales Cyber Security? Imperva, CipherTrust and Digital Defence Power
In recent years Thales has gone from a defence company that builds radars and missiles to one of the world’s largest cyber-security players. After acquiring the U.S.-based Imperva in 2023, the group became a global leader in the field, with more than 5,800 cyber-security experts in 68 countries and annual revenue of around €2.4 billion. Its digital-defence portfolio spans from application security to data encryption.
What Is Thales Cyber Security?
In modern defence, the front line is not only land, sea and air but also cyberspace. When a nation’s banks, power grid, communications and military systems are not protected against digital attacks, even the strongest army can be paralysed. Thales’s cyber-security arm (under the CPL — Cloud Protection & Licensing — and Imperva brands) was built precisely to defend this invisible front. The acquisition of Imperva, completed at the end of 2023, instantly propelled the group’s competence in application and data security to the top of the world league.
Three Core Capability Areas
| Area | Content |
|---|---|
| Application security | Web Application Firewall (WAF), DDoS protection, bot protection, API security, CDN, RASP |
| Data security | CipherTrust Data Security Platform, Imperva Data Security Fabric, Luna and payShield hardware security modules (HSMs) |
| Data risk intelligence | Risk/threat identification and encryption-strength assessment via Imperva DSF + CipherTrust |
Mission Profile and Significance
At the heart of Thales’s cyber power are two kinds of protection. Application security protects an organisation’s websites and APIs — in the cloud, on-premises or hybrid — against attack; WAF, DDoS mitigation and bot protection are the cornerstones of this layer. Data security protects the data itself: through CipherTrust and hardware security modules (HSMs), data is encrypted and its access controlled whether at rest or in motion. The payShield HSMs in particular are critical infrastructure securing bank-card transactions worldwide. The new “data risk intelligence” offering unites these two worlds, showing organisations how safe their data really is.
Competitors and Türkiye
Thales’s rivals in cyber security include the U.S. firms Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet and Akamai (application security) and Entrust on the encryption/HSM side. For Türkiye, this is a strategic sector where the country is strengthening rapidly: STM (cyber threat intelligence and security operations centres), HAVELSAN (indigenous cyber-security solutions) and ASELSAN (crypto and secure communications) form Türkiye’s national cyber-defence backbone. Türkiye is also developing indigenous encryption and HSM capabilities, reducing its dependence in this field.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What does Thales do in cyber security? It offers application security (WAF/DDoS/API), data security (encryption/HSM) and data risk intelligence.
- What is Imperva? A U.S.-based cyber-security company, a global leader in application and data security, that Thales acquired in 2023.
- What does CipherTrust do? It is a data security platform that encrypts data and controls access to it.
- What is an HSM? A hardware security module that protects encryption keys; payShield secures bank-card transactions.
- Is there a Turkish counterpart? STM, HAVELSAN and ASELSAN develop Türkiye’s indigenous cyber-security solutions.
