Microsoft has invested in boosting its security portfolio with the acquisition of cyber security automation firm Hexadite, a company headquartered in the U.S. with a research and development centre in Israel.
The focus of this company is the automation of cyber attack responses. The leveraging of cutting edge technologies to automate processes is a central, current trend in the cyber security industry.
Hexadite has drawn impressive support from other directions previously, having received investment from Hewlett Packard Ventures, and major venture capital firms YL Ventures and TenEleven.
An Israeli financial news website, Calcalist, previously said that $100 million was a potential price tag, and reports are now corroborating this figure.
Rising to meet the fast growing threat of malicious cyber activity, Microsoft now aims to begin making annual cyber security investments of $1 billion, this is set to begin in January.
Major organisations now work within a threat landscape in which attacks are constant, amplifying the threat of this is the fact that there are can no longer be an all-encompassing cyber perimeter to keep out adversaries.
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In light of this situation, companies are pursuing technology for cyber security automation capabilities that can actually act and block attacks, and will be constantly active and on guard. Another benefit of automation is in freeing up the time of valuable analysts to undertake more important, technical tasks.
Microsoft’s strong investment targets for cyber security are indicative of the severity of the threats posed to organisations, and may have a strong influence on businesses that are not yet up to speed. Having recently passed the one year marker point until the arrival of GDPR, it is essential the organisations follow suit and make preparations.
