Microsoft and CrowdStrike, one of its strategic security partners, have launched a joint effort to make it easier to identify cyber threat actors that have different, vendor-specific names.
Announced earlier this week, the partnership aims to address longstanding naming inconsistencies that can hamstring efforts to quash threats. To do this, the companies plan to create a shared mapping system that links various aliases used by different security vendors to identify the same threat groups -- what CrowdStrike called in its press release a "Rosetta Stone" for cyber threat intelligence.
The goal is to eliminate ambiguity by correlating names like, for example, "Midnight Blizzard" and "Cozy Bear," which refer to the same adversary. By standardizing these names, security teams can, in theory, respond to threats faster and with more efficacy.
The collaboration has already reconciled over 80 threat actor aliases, including Microsoft's "Volt Typhoon" with CrowdStrike's "Vanguard Panda," both attributed to Chinese state-sponsored groups. Similarly, "Secret Blizzard" and "Venomous Bear" have been identified as the same Russia-linked entity.
This effort comes amid increasing concerns over the complexity of cyber threats and the need for unified intelligence. Other major cybersecurity firms, such as Palo Alto Networks and Google's Mandiant, are also joining the initiative to further streamline threat group taxonomy, according to Microsoft's own post.
The "RCP Channel Briefing" blog is researched, fact-checked, edited and updated by the editors of RCPmag.com, with writing assistance from AI.
Posted by Redmond Channel Partner magazine staff on June 04, 20250 comments
Argano, a digital services consultancy based in Plano, Texas, has acquired Anavate Partners, a Phoenix-based firm specializing in cloud-based planning and forecasting solutions, particularly on the Anaplan platform.
The move represents Argano's fourth acquisition in 2025 and its twentieth since it was founded in 2020, according to a press release last month. With Anavate, Argano further solidifies its plan to improve its technical capabilities and broaden its solution portfolio, with the ultimate goal of expanding its global reach.
Anavate brings a strong track record in enterprisewide planning transformation across finance, sales, marketing and supply chain functions. This acquisition follows Argano's recent purchases of Salesforce expert Attentis, SAP expert Netlogistik, and fellow Dynamics 365 specialist Real Dynamics.
The "RCP Channel Briefing" blog is researched, fact-checked, edited and updated by the editors of RCPmag.com, with writing assistance from AI.
Posted by Redmond Channel Partner magazine staff on June 02, 20250 comments