Microsoft announced Monday that it's acquiring startup CyberX to help customers secure their connected devices.
Connected gadgetry, known collectively as Internet of Things (IoT) devices, are frequently used in sectors including manufacturing, energy, agriculture, healthcare, automotive, and the like. CyberX helps users with securing IoT devices and monitoring for threats. It had raised a total of $47.82 million, according to PitchBook.
The terms of the deal were not enclosed, but reports put it in the range of $165 million. We've reached out to Microsoft for more information.
Microsoft itself had already been focusing on IoT. In 2018, it announced it would invest $5 billion in IoT over the next few years. These kinds of devices help customers with monitoring and making their work more efficient. For example, manufacturing companies may use IoT devices and cameras for quality control and to make sure its machines are working properly. Similarly, agricultural companies may use IoT devices and sensors to check on factors affecting their crops, including temperature and humidity.
Microsoft has also been doubling down on cybersecurity, which can be a concern for customers with so many devices they're using at once that are connected to the Internet.
Microsoft has its own Azure IoT security products, but with CyberX, customers can see what IoT devices are connected to their networks, manage security on their existing IoT devices, gather information on possible vulnerabilities, and map out all the devices they're using in a factory or a building.
"We will continue to deliver more value to our customers as CyberX is further integrated with Microsoft's broad portfolio of IoT security offerings in threat protection that span users, endpoints, applications, data and more," Microsoft cloud executives Michal Braverman-Blumenstyk and Sam George wrote in a blog post.
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