Symantec Corp.’s latest acquisition may not be as big as its $2.3 billion purchase of LifeLock Inc. last November, but the deal could prove significant in several ways.

The cybersecurity giant today announced that it’s buying Fireglass Ltd., an Israeli startup with a novel approach to protecting workers from online threats. The firm has developed a platform that combats malware not by trying to individually identify malicious files but rather through what is known as browser isolation. It’s an emerging technique that involves creating a layer of separation between the user and the public web.

Fireglass’ platform puts the concept into practice with a sandbox that works sort of like a virtual browser. When a worker accesses a web page or document that may warrant suspicion, the software can intercept the file and launch it in an isolated environment that provides no way of accessing other systems. A patented rendering mechanism then creates a visual representation of the file that is streamed to the user’s endpoint without any of the code from the original payload.

Fireglass thus prevents potential threats from ever reaching the target device, which dramatically reduces the attack surface available to hackers. Symantec Chief Executive Greg Clark said in a statement that this can lower the number of security events that a company experiences by up to 70 percent.

The executive added that he believes the technology will play a key role in the future of the cybersecurity market. He underscored his stance in an interview with Reuters by citing a Gartner report that predicted half of enterprises will adopt browser isolation by 2021. If the forecast comes true, the acquisition of Fireglass could give Symantec a massively valuable head-start over rivals.

The deal is expected to close later this quarter. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the fact that Symantec’s Clark referred to the buyout as a “tuck-in acquisition” would suggest the price tag must be fairly modest compared to its previous transactions.

At the same time, it’s worth taking into account that the startup has raised $20 million from investors and claimed to have several Fortune 500 customers at the time of the round’s announcement last year.

Image: Symantec