UPDATED 01:37 EDT / NOVEMBER 18 2015

NEWS

Microsoft targets enterprise security with $1bn Cyber Defense Operations Center

Microsoft has announced a major new initiative that will see the company build a holistic security platform incorporating the best attack detection, protection and response features built into the Azure cloud, Windows 10, Office 365 and a new Microsoft Enterprise Mobility Suite.

In a speech that emphasized the importance of security in a new “mobile first, cloud first world”, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the company intends to help its customers safeguard their data no matter where it resides. As a result, Microsoft is spending more than $1 billion on security research and development to boost its platform’s defenses.

Nadella’s announcement came at the Microsoft Government Cloud Forum held in Washington D.C. earlier this week, where he spoke at length about the numerous kinds of security threats that organizations face in the modern age.

“We live in a world where the attacks can come from anywhere, the attackers themselves are much more sophisticated,” Nadella warned.

And those threats are so serious that organizations need to build a new line of defense, Nadella added.

To that end, Microsoft is to establish a new Cyber Defense Operations Center housed in a new “state-of-the-art” facility that brings together the company’s best security experts. Nadella said the center will be staffed around the clock by a team of security experts, data analysts, developers, engineering, operations specialists and program managers. Those experts will work closely with a newly formed Microsoft Enterprise Cybersecurity Group that plans to offer security assessments to organizations, along with monitoring, threat detection and incident response services. While some consultancy firms and tech vendors already offer similar services, Microsoft believes its experience of delivering cloud services to both the enterprise and consumers makes it a far better choice.

Another aspect of this initiative is a new Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS), which will provide support for mobile app management without any need for devices to be enrolled. The technology will offer features to IT staff aimed at helping them manage corporate data and apps on Android, iOS and Windows devices.

Nadella’s long-winded speech touched on how the issue of “trust” is at the core of Microsoft’s mission to empower “every person and every organization”. He explained this “trust” is built on four pillars, namely: privacy; compliance; transparency about the collection and usage of data; and ensuring data is kept secure.

To nobody’s surprise, Nadella introduced Microsoft General Manager Julia White, who explained how Microsoft’s products offer everything an organization needs to keep its data safe. White spoke about how features like Microsoft Passport and Windows Hello can do away with the need for risky passwords, while Credential Guard offers protection against “pass-the-hash” attacks, wherein attackers compromise a single device and then use that to penetrate an organization’s entire IT environment. She also played up Windows 10 Device Guard, a new tool that prevents malicious code from being installed on machines; and Advanced Threat Analytics, which speeds up attack detection.

“Digital technologies are the core of everything going forward,” Nadella added. “Therefore, when you talk about empowering every person and organization on the planet, it becomes more paramount to build trust in the core of computing.”

Image credit: Unsplash via pixabay.com

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