News

Microsoft's CyberX Acquisition Boosts Security of Azure IoT Lineup

Microsoft this week announced its acquisition of Waltham, Mass.-based CyberX for an undisclosed amount.

Founded in 2013, CyberX makes a security platform for Internet of Things (IoT) and operational technology (OT) industrial systems. CyberX explained that its team will be under the business unit managed by Yuval Eldar, Microsoft's general manager of IoT security. Eldar formerly served as the founder and president of Secure Islands, another company that was acquired by Microsoft.

Other CyberX personnel are joining Microsoft and will continue to service the product.

"CyberX's founders will join Microsoft and the platform will continue to be enhanced and supported by CyberX personnel," CyberX's announcement explained. "In addition, Microsoft is committed to the channel and will continue working with CyberX's strategic reseller and technology partners worldwide. The CyberX platform will continue to be available in a hybrid model supporting both cloud-connected and air-gapped networks."

The agentless CyberX security platform is already integrated with Microsoft's "Azure IoT stack, Azure Security Center for IoT, and Azure Sentinel, the first SIEM with native IoT support," according to a CyberX announcement of the acquisition. The integrated solution is currently available from Microsoft's Azure Marketplace, as described here.

Microsoft explained in its announcement that it already provides Azure security solutions for IoT implementations. However, its customers still have issues in a couple of areas, namely:

  1. Giving customers visibility into what IoT devices are already connected to their networks.
  2. Managing the security on existing IoT devices (referred to as "brownfield devices") that have been historically difficult due to a myriad of custom protocols.

The intention behind the CyberX acquisition is to improve those security aspects in Microsoft's products. 

"With CyberX, customers can discover their existing IoT assets, and both manage and improve the security posture of those devices," Microsoft's announcement explained. "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."

In addition, when CyberX technology is used with Azure Sentinel, Microsoft's security information and event management (SIEM) solution, it'll be possible "to identify threats that span Operational Technology- and IT-converged networks that were previously challenging to detect," Microsoft explained.

About the Author

Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.

Featured

  • Microsoft Appoints Althoff as New CEO for Commercial Business

    Microsoft CEO and chairman Satya Nadella on Wednesday announced the promotion of Judson Althoff to CEO of the company's commercial business, presenting the move as a response to the dramatic industrywide shifts caused by AI.

  • Broadcom Revamps VMware Partner Program Again

    Broadcom recently announced a significant update regarding its VMware Cloud Service Provider (VCSP) program, coinciding with the release of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0, a key component in Broadcom’s private cloud strategy.

  • Closeup of the new Copilot keyboard key

    Microsoft Updates Copilot To Add Context-Sensitive Agents to Teams, SharePoint

    Microsoft has rolled out a new public preview for collaborative "always on" agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot, bringing enhanced, context-aware tools into Teams channels, meetings, SharePoint sites, Planner workstreams and Viva Engage communities.

  • Windows 365 Cloud Apps Now Available for Public Preview

    Microsoft announced this week that Windows 365 Cloud Apps are now available for public preview. This aims to allow IT administrators to stream individual Windows applications from the cloud, removing the need to assign Cloud PCs to every user.