The tech giant, Microsoft has agreed to acquire RiskIQ, a security software maker, as it seeks to extend its products and better protect customers amid a rising flood of global cyberattacks.
According to sources, the deal will be announced in the next few days and Microsoft will pay more than $500 million for the company.
RiskIQ, a San Francisco-based company founded in 2009, develops cloud software for detecting security threats, assisting clients to understand where and how they can be attacked on complex webs of corporate networks and devices. Its customers include Facebook, BMW AG, American Express Co. and the U.S. Postal Service.
According to Crunchbase, RiskIQ which is known for its annual security report, the “Evil Internet Minute” has raised $83 million from companies such as Summit Partners and Battery Ventures.
To safeguard individual PCs and identify network breaches, Microsoft has been adding security features to products like Windows and its Azure cloud services. Microsoft has also hired teams to look for flaws in its products, assist clients in the clean-up after a cyberattack, and maintain a lab called the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center, which closely monitors nation-state hacking.
In order to improve its security features, Microsoft has acquired other companies also. Microsoft purchased ReFirm Labs, a maker of technologies for securing the Internet of Things devices, last month. Microsoft has 3,500 security employees working on a mission to secure consumers “from the chip to the cloud.”
Last month, Microsoft had revealed that an attacker had won access to one of its customer-service agents and then used information from that to launch hacking attempts against customers.
