SAN FRANCISCO, April 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- At a news
conference on Monday, Microsoft Corp. announced several new
intelligent security tools and technologies to help enterprises
more easily secure their data and networks against today's biggest
threats as well as address emerging threats aimed at IoT and edge
devices. These new solutions build on Microsoft's longstanding
approach to delivering innovation that customers and partners can
build upon to strengthen the broader ecosystem against cyberattacks
from the cloud to the edge.
"As last year's devastating cyberattacks demonstrated, security
threats are evolving and becoming even more serious," said
Brad Smith, president of Microsoft.
"The tech sector's innovations need to accelerate to outpace
security threats. Today's steps bring important security advances
not just to the cloud, but to the billions of new devices that are
working on the edge of the world's computer networks."
Securing a new generation of connected devices: announcing
Azure Sphere
Microsoft is harnessing the power of the intelligent cloud to
address emerging threats against a new class of connected devices,
those relying on a chip the size of a thumbnail called a
microcontroller unit (MCU). MCU-powered devices are already the
most populous area of computing with roughly 9 billion new devices
every year. They are found in everything from toys and household
appliances to industrial equipment — and attackers are starting to
target them. To bring security to this next generation of connected
devices, Microsoft is introducing Azure Sphere, the industry's
first holistic platform for creating highly secured, connected MCU
devices on the intelligent edge. Featuring an entirely new class of
MCUs with more than five times the power of legacy MCUs, an OS
custom built for IoT security, and a turnkey cloud security service
that guards every Azure Sphere device. With Azure Sphere, Microsoft
extends the boundaries of the intelligent edge, to power and secure
an entirely new category of devices.
"As our homes become more connected, we place significant value
on the security of connected devices, so we can focus on continuing
to deliver an exceptional customer experience," said Brian Jones, director of Product Strategy and
Marketing at Sub-Zero Group Inc. "Microsoft's approach with Azure
Sphere is unique in that it addresses security holistically at
every layer."
Microsoft 365 Intelligent Security Solutions: Simplifying
Security
As security threats become more complex, companies are
increasingly finding that the intelligence and threat protection
tools they need to remain a step ahead of attackers are in the
cloud. Today, Microsoft introduced several new intelligent security
features for its Microsoft 365 commercial cloud offering designed
to help IT and security professionals simplify how they manage
security across their enterprises:
Advanced tools that make it easier to prevent threats
before they happen
- To help teams stay prepared and ahead of threats, Microsoft
today released Microsoft Secure Score and Attack Simulator. Secure
Score makes it easier for organizations to determine which controls
to enable to help protect users, data and devices by quickly
assessing readiness and providing an overall security benchmark
score. It will also let organizations compare their results to
those with similar profiles using built-in machine learning. Attack
Simulator, a part of Office 365 Threat Intelligence, lets security
teams run simulated attacks — including mock ransomware and
phishing campaigns — to event-test their employees' responses and
tune configurations accordingly.
Automated threat detection and remediation to free up
security operations teams
- With the latest Windows 10 update, now in preview, Windows
Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) works across other parts
of Microsoft 365 to include threat protection and remediation
spanning Office 365, Windows and Azure. Also available today in
preview, and with the upcoming Windows 10 update, are new automated
investigation and remediation capabilities in Windows Defender ATP,
leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning to quickly
detect and respond to threats on endpoints, within seconds, at
scale.
- Conditional Access provides real-time risk assessments to help
ensure that access to sensitive data is appropriately controlled,
without getting in the way of users' productivity. Microsoft 365 is
now adding the device risk level set by Windows Defender ATP to
Conditional Access in preview to help ensure that compromised
devices can't access sensitive business data.
Stronger partnerships to give customers more integrated
solutions
- The intelligence data used to quickly detect and respond to
threats improves as more relevant signals are added. Machine
learning tools are only as good as the data they receive.
Microsoft's security products are informed by the trillions of
diverse signals feeding into the Microsoft Intelligent Security
Graph. Today, Microsoft announced a preview of a new security API
for connecting Microsoft Intelligent Security Graph-enabled
products as well as intelligence from solutions built by customers
and technology partners to greatly enhance the fidelity of
intelligence.
Most security tools report an attack from a single limited
perspective, offering insight into one piece of a potentially
larger threat. By connecting individual tools to the Intelligent
Security Graph, security teams get new perspectives and more
meaningful patterns of data to speed up threat investigation and
remediation. The new API is in early testing with a select group of
cybersecurity industry leaders that are collaborating with
Microsoft to shape its development. The group, which includes
Anomali, Palo Alto Networks and PwC, joined Microsoft today to
share their own early exploration of the API and how it may improve
each company's ability to protect their mutual customers.
- Microsoft also is announcing a new Microsoft Intelligent
Security Association for security technology partners so they can
benefit from, and contribute to, the Intelligent Security Graph and
Microsoft security products. Members of the association will be
able to create more integrated solutions for customers that provide
greater protection and detect attacks more quickly. Palo Alto
Networks and Anomali join PwC and other existing partners as
founding members of the new association.
Microsoft is partnering with customers through their digital
transformation by making it easier for them to help keep assets
secure from the cloud to the edge.
More information on Microsoft's security announcements can be
found at the Microsoft Security News site.
Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft) enables digital
transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an
intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every
organization on the planet to achieve more.
View original content with
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/microsoft-announces-new-intelligent-security-innovations-to-help-businesses-manage-threats-from-cloud-to-edge-300630581.html
SOURCE Microsoft Corp.