Microsoft has announced its acquisition of cybersecurity platform CyberX as it aims to make its customers’ IoT deployments faster and more secure.
In a blog post detailing the acquisition, the tech giant said that the latest addition to the company will provide security to devices used in scenarios within industrial IoT, operational technology, and infrastructure.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, TechCrunch reported that sources estimate the purchase at around $165 million.
Microsoft already offers IoT security and security monitoring in its cloud computing service Azure, but added that its goal is to “simplify IoT and make securing IoT devices easy”.
It will also seek to resolve issues raised by customers by providing users with the “visibility into what IoT devices are already connected to their networks” as well as “managing the security on existing IoT devices which has been historically difficult due to a myriad of custom protocols”.
Microsoft's Cloud and AI Security CVP and CTO Michal Braverman-Blumenstyk, and Cloud and AI Azure IoT CVP Sam George, said: “We are excited to share that Microsoft is acquiring CyberX to help solve these challenges. With CyberX, customers can discover their existing IoT assets, and both manage and improve the security posture of those devices.
"With CyberX, customers can see a digital map of thousands of devices across a factory floor or within a building and gather information about their asset profile and vulnerabilities. Gaining this visibility is not only critical for understanding where security risks may exist and then mitigating those risks, but it is also a fundamental step to securely enable smart manufacturing, smart grid and other digitization use cases across production facilities and the supply chain.”
Braverman-Blumenstyk and George also pledged that Microsoft “will continue to deliver more value to our customers as CyberX is further integrated with Microsoft’s broad portfolio of IoT security offerings in threat protection that span users, endpoints, applications, data and more”.
The announcement comes days after Microsoft acquired enterprise data modelling company ADRM Software, aiming to combine the firm’s “information blueprints” with Azure storage and compute to create sophisticated data lakes. The company explained that, by combining ADRM Software’s services with Azure, the capabilities will allow customers to embark on digital projects quicker and with less risk.
