Microsoft announced on Monday that it had agreed to acquire the cybersecurity startup RiskIQ, but did not disclose the terms of the acquisition. The transaction may help Microsoft expand its security business, which is currently growing faster than in other areas. In January of this year, Microsoft said that in the past 12 months, the company’s security business revenue exceeded 10 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of more than 40%.
RiskIQ’s Illuminate software aggregates various security risks in the information technology field of a specific organization, so security professionals can solve the most critical problems. The system can run on Microsoft Azure cloud and other clouds, such as the market-leading Amazon Web Services. Microsoft’s vice president of cloud security Eric Doerr wrote in a blog post that Microsoft is also working with on-premises infrastructure.
Microsoft recently had to deal with security issues, including vulnerabilities in its Exchange Server email and calendar software versions. LinkedIn information shows that RiskIQ was founded in 2009, is headquartered in San Francisco, and employs more than 200 people. Investors include Battery Ventures and MassMutual Ventures. RiskIQ’s competitors include Mimecast, which is publicly traded.
Bloomberg quoted an anonymous source last weekend as saying that Microsoft’s acquisition of RiskIQ will cost more than $500 million.
