Microsoft Corporation investments in cyber security will keep coming every year, as cyber-attacks and threats continue to rise in the sector. The company will contribute over $1 billion yearly to research and development on the field.
Bharat Shah, Microsoft’s VP of Security, confirmed the intentions of the tech giant in an interview with Reuters on Thursday in Tel Aviv, Israel, at the BlueHat cyber security conference.
The country has seen a surge of startups and competitors in the industry of cyber protection looking to fight the worrying trends in the global market.
Reports show that 2016 saw a significant increase in online scams and malware spreading, not to mention the massive hacks that took place.
Microsoft’s budget for cyber security won’t include acquisitions
The $1 billion or so destined to the development and research of new mitigation techniques will be exclusively for cyber security. Companies, startups, or other acquisitions Microsoft may make won’t reflect on that budget.
The firm, which is now bigger than ever on security with the constant efforts to improve Windows 10, has acquired several startups specialized in dealing with different issues of the digital era.
“AS MORE AND MORE PEOPLE USE CLOUD, SPENDING HAS TO GO UP,” said Bharat Sha in an interview with Reuters.
Company data shows that every week there are 600,000 to 700,000 cyber-attacks, more than 20 times the amount carried out in 2014 and 2015. Efforts to neutralize these threats must be, then, just as significant.
Shah’s remarks seem to point at a Microsoft that not only will continue to invest in user experience and safety but also in strengthening and diversifying their products and services in the process.
Israel is soon becoming the world capital of cyber security
The Israeli capital’s growing cyber security industry makes of Tel Aviv the perfect venue for the BlueHat conference this year. More and more companies are surfacing in the territory, and investors are taking notice.
Microsoft itself has invested in three of these protection firms in the last few months, with checks written as recently as this same week on a venture called Illusive Networks.
Illusive Network’s product is one based on deception technology that fools hackers that are trying to take advantage of financial institutions and big stores. The tech giant has also invested in Team8, Illusive’s parent company.
Arorato, Adallom, and Secure Islands are also among the startups Microsoft has bought in the past, integrating their protection techniques to its proprietary cloud service Azure.
Azure sales and installs rose over 115 percent in the company’s second financial quarter last year. Numbers have since continued to increase largely due to the strong security behind it.
Source: Reuters
