Microsoft acquisition boosts network defenses for enterprise customers

With more businesses adopting cloud and hybrid environments, protecting data is more important than ever but it’s also more complex.

Microsoft is looking to improve protection for its enterprise customers with today's announcement that it has acquired Aorato, an innovator in enterprise security.

Writing on Microsoft's official blog, Takeshi Numoto, Corporate Vice President of Cloud and Enterprise Marketing says, "We all know corporate security is more important than ever. Nearly every day there are more headlines about breaches, fraud and data loss. Unfortunately, compromised passwords, stolen identities and network intrusion are a fact of life. Companies need new, intelligent solutions to help them adapt and defend themselves inside the network, not just at its edge".

Aorato's technology uses machine learning techniques to detect suspicious activity on a corporate network. It understands what normal behavior is and then identifies anomalies, so a company can quickly see suspicious activity and take appropriate protection measures.

It uses an Organizational Security Graph, which is a continuously-updated view of all of the people and machines accessing an organization's Windows Server Active Directory (AD). AD is used by most enterprises to store user identities and administer access to critical business applications and systems. Since it leverages this existing technology existing Microsoft enterprise customers should be able to easily take advantage of the Aorato system.

Numoto adds, "This will complement similar capabilities that we have developed for Azure Active Directory, our cloud-based identity and access management solution".

An announcement on Aorato's website says, "At our core, Aorato has always been focused on strengthening enterprise security, by giving customers deeper visibility into their Active Directory and identity infrastructure with an emphasis on user behavior intelligence and analytics. Joining Microsoft gives us a unique opportunity to pursue this vision, and help customers at the broadest possible scale".

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