Microsoft acquires CloudKnox security start-up

Microsoft on Wednesday announced the acquisition of CloudKnox, a start-up whose software helps companies reduce the number of accesses they provide to their cloud resources. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

This decision represents another step that Microsoft is taking to develop its security business, in addition to ensuring the security of Windows and its other products. In January, Microsoft said it generated more than $ 10 billion in security revenue in the previous 12 months, up more than 40% year on year, meaning it is growing faster than most others. product areas. Last week Microsoft announced the acquisition of another security company, RiskIQ, which can detect threats across a given company’s entire IT footprint.

CloudKnox’s software works with Microsoft’s Azure public cloud, as well as Amazon and Google clouds. The software detects and can remove authorization cases for employees and virtual identities that are not actively in use, and it can display alerts on unusual activity.

Joy Chik, corporate vice president of Microsoft, explained in a blog post that as unattended cloud services (like virtual machines) proliferate, it is more difficult for organizations to maintain tight control over who is allowed to do what with them. “High-profile breaches show how quickly bad actors can move sideways by exploiting hijacked privileged credentials.”

The start-up was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., With 58 employees listed on LinkedIn. Investors include Sorenson Ventures, Dell Technologies Capital and Foundation Capital.

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