As Americans spend more time at home, interacting with smart gadgets, it's imperative to ensure our refrigerators and TVs stay safe from hackers.
As part of its efforts to protect users, Microsoft has acquired CyberX, a Waltham-based company that provides security solutions for Internet of Things (IoT) and operational technology (OT) devices.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The acquisition comes at a time when cybersecurity threats are especially relevant. IBM’s Threat Intelligence Index showed that targeted attacks against operational technology increased over 2,000 percent in 2019. Just last month, a power grid business in the U.K. faced outages resulting from a cyberattack. In the U.S., President Donald Trump has similar concerns.
As a direct result of the deal, Microsoft will integrate the CyberX platform with its own Azure IoT stack, Azure Security Center for IoT and Azure Sentinel.
Founded in 2013 by Omar Schneider and Nir Giller, CyberX provides network security and behavioral analytics for IoT and OT devices. Its suite of solutions include asset discovery, vulnerability management, and continuous threat monitoring.
“CyberX’s technology and team are a great addition to Microsoft,” said Microsoft's corporate vice president and general manager at Israel R&D center Michal Braverman-Blumenstyk in a statement. “With CyberX’s expertise and innovative platform, together with Microsoft’s exciting security products, Microsoft is offering a powerful and scalable solution that accelerates digitalization for enterprises at all phases of their IoT/OT journey.”
In March last year, CyberX raised $18 million led by Qualcomm Ventures and Inven Capital. The company raised a total of $48 million in venture funding, prior to the acquisition.
