Microsoft is set to acquire CloudKnox, a provider of software that helps companies reduce the amount of access they provide to their cloud resources.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
The move represents another step Microsoft is taking to expand its Cloud security business, in addition to working to keep Windows and its other products secure.
Microsoft said it had generated over $10 billion in security revenue in the previous 12 months, up more than 40 percent year over year, meaning that it’s growing faster than most other product areas, CNBC reported.
Last week, Microsoft announced the acquisition of another security company, RiskIQ, which can spot threats across a given company’s entire information-technology footprint.
Microsoft in June announced the acquisition of ReFirm Labs in order to enhance IoT security.
Microsoft says the acquisition of security companies marks the next step in its journey and ability to help secure customers from the chip to the cloud, backed by more than 3,500 defenders at Microsoft and the >8 trillion security signals we process every day.
CloudKnox’s software works with Microsoft’s Azure public cloud, as well as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google clouds. The software spots — and can remove — cases of permissions for employees and virtual identities that aren’t being actively used, and it can show alerts about unusual activity.
Microsoft vice president Joy Chik explained in a blog post that as unmonitored cloud services (like virtual machines) proliferate, it’s harder for organizations to keep a tight control over who’s allowed to do what with them.
CloudKnox was founded in 2015 and is based in Sunnyvale, California, with 58 employees listed on LinkedIn.
Investors of CloudKnox include Sorenson Ventures, Dell Technologies Capital and Foundation Capital.
