Microsoft confirms further Israeli investment, acquires cloud security platform Adallom
Tue 8 Sep 2015
Microsoft has today confirmed its purchase of Israeli cloud cybersecurity firm Adallom, for an undisclosed amount.
The California-based company offers software-as-a-service (SaaS) monitoring solutions for tech leaders such as Salesforce, Google apps, Box, Dropbox and Amazon Web Services (AWS) among others. Its technology has also been keeping an eye on Microsoft’s Office 365.
The Adallom system defines typical usage patterns, notifying administrators of any anomalies which could suggest potential security threats.
Earlier this summer, there had been reports that Microsoft was looking to pay $320mn for Adallom but neither parties supported the rumours.
However, in today’s blog post the U.S. tech giant confirmed the acquisition, reiterating its commitment to improving its security capabilities for both on-premises and multiple cloud customers.
‘Adallom expands on Microsoft’s existing identity assets, and delivers a cloud access security broker, to give customers visibility and control over application access as well as their critical company data stored across cloud services,’ the release read. It added: ‘As a cloud-delivered, security-as-a-service solution, Adallom will complement existing offerings that Microsoft makes available today as part of Office 365 and the Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS), including our recent Microsoft Advanced Threat Analytics release.’
Considering the general push towards open platform technologies Adallom is expected to continue to manage other non-Microsoft applications in the future, but this remains unconfirmed.
Adallom, which invests heavily in research and development projects from its Tel Aviv offices, was founded in 2012 by Assaf Rappaport, Ami Luttwak and Roy Reznik – all former members of Israeli Defense programs.
Microsoft has a strong history of investing in Israeli vendors, buying cloud security experts Aorato in 2014 which also has links with the Israeli Forces. Aorato has since been renamed Advanced Threat Analytics.
Microsoft’s Israeli investment does not stop at security. The company purchased digital pen and touchscreen manufacturer N-trig in February to investigate touch technology and digital stylus input.
