Microsoft Acquires CyberX To Boost IoT Deployments

Microsoft said it’s acquiring CyberX, a cybersecurity start-up that focuses on detecting, stopping, and predicting security breaches on the internet of things networks. Various reports mention that the acquisition could be around $165 million.

With this acquisition, Microsft adds one more component to its Azure IoT security capabilities. “CyberX will complement the existing Azure IoT security capabilities and extends to existing devices including those used in industrial IoT, Operational Technology, and infrastructure scenarios. With CyberX, customers can discover their existing IoT assets, and both manage and improve the security posture of those devices. With CyberX, customers can see a digital map of thousands of devices across a factory floor or within a building and gather information about their asset profile and vulnerabilities. Gaining this visibility is not only critical for understanding where security risks may exist and then mitigating those risks, but it is also a fundamental step to securely enable smart manufacturing, smart grid and other digitization use cases across production facilities and the supply chain,” said Michal Braverman-Blumenstyk, CVP, CTO, Cloud + AI Security, and Sam George, CVP, Cloud + AI Azure IoT in a blog post.

Microsft has already shown its intention to IoT with its $5 billion investment into the area in the last couple of years. “We’ve been invested in IoT before the term was coined when enterprises had these endpoints in their factories, buildings and other devices that were totally dark. Today, we’re planning to dedicate even more resources to research and innovation in IoT and what is ultimately evolving to be the new intelligent edge. With our IoT platform spanning cloud, OS and devices, we are uniquely positioned to simplify the IoT journey so any customer—regardless of size, technical expertise, budget, industry or other factors—can create trusted, connected solutions that improve business and customer experiences, as well as the daily lives of people all over the world,” said Julia White Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Azure in the blog. 

At that point, the acquisition of CyberX and vision of Microsft complement each other because CyberX works with major energy utilities, telecom carriers, chemical producers, other industrial companies and the company applies its technology with behavioral analytics, AI-based techniques to continuously monitor network activity and detect anomalies that could indicate breaches.

CyberX also announced the acquisition in the company blog. “Nir and I founded CyberX with the goal of delivering a scalable solution that would be easy to deploy and reduce risk for enterprises worldwide,” said Omer Schneider, co-founder and CEO of CyberX. “We’re thankful to our loyal customers and partners as well as to our dedicated employees whose innovation and hard work made it possible for us to reach this important milestone, and also to our investors for their ongoing support.”

Prior to its acquisition, CyberX had raised $47 million in venture capital funding, and investors included Norwest Venture Partners, Qualcomm Ventures, Inven Capital, Glilot Capital Partners, Flint Capital, and OurCrowd.