By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 26th, 2024
RiskIQ will help Microsoft spot multiple threats and attacks on its Azure cloud infrastructure and thus help them neutralize it before creating any further damage.
On Monday, July 12, computing giant Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) announced its latest acquisition of security software provider RiskIQ. The deal will help Microsoft expand its footprint in the security business.
For the last year of 2020, the total revenue for Microsoft’s security business stood at $10 billion up 40% year-over-year. The RiskIQ acquisition will provide further fuel to its income stream.
The cyber-security startup specializes in identifying threats across multiple cloud infrastructures. Its Illuminate software will aggregate threats across the organization’s IT footprint. Thus, it helps security professionals to quickly address any critical issues.
RiskIQ’s software works across multiple platforms like Microsoft’s Azure Cloud and other market-leading services like Amazon Web Services. Microsoft’s vice president for cloud security, Eric Doerr, said RiskIQ also works on on-premises infrastructure. He further wrote:
“As organizations pursue this digital transformation and embrace the concept of Zero Trust, their applications, infrastructure, and even IoT applications are increasingly running across multiple clouds and hybrid cloud environments. With more than a decade of experience scanning and analyzing the internet, RiskIQ can help enterprises identify and remediate vulnerable assets before an attacker can capitalize on them”.
The recent acquisition from Microsoft comes as it has been battling with its own cyber-security issues. This includes the recent exploits of its calendar software as well as on its Exchange Server emails.
The terms of the deal aren’t publicly disclosed by Microsoft. However, citing unknown sources, a Bloomberg report notes that Microsoft could pay upwards of $500 million for RiskIQ.
About RiskIQ
Established in 2009, this San Francisco-based startup employs more than 200 people. Battery Ventures and MassMutual Ventures are some of the notable investors in the company. The blog post from Doerr states that RiskIQ’s PassiveTotal community crowd-sources threat intelligence from across the globe.
RiskIQ’s threat intelligence capabilities offer context in the source of “attacks, tools, and systems”. This helps to neutralize the attacks quickly and in the desired timeframe. RiskIQ co-founder and CEO Elias Manousos said that they will be adding the company Threat Intelligence and Attack Surface solutions to Microsoft’s security portfolio. Manousos also said:
“The vision and mission of RiskIQ is to provide unmatched internet visibility and insights to better protect and inform our customers and partners’ security programs. We’re thrilled to add RiskIQ’s Attack Surface and Threat Intelligence solutions to the Microsoft Security portfolio, extending and accelerating our impact. Our combined capabilities will enable best-in-class protection, investigations, and response against today’s threats”.
This development will help Microsoft conduct active threat surveillance across its wide infrastructure. RiskIQ is the latest addition to Microsoft’s multiple acquisitions this year.