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Microsoft is reportedly paying more than $500m in cash for the cybersecurity firm.
Microsoft has struck a deal to acquire RiskIQ, though the multitrillion-dollar software giant declined to confirm the figure.
However, citing “people familiar with the matter”, Bloomberg reported that Microsoft will buy RiskIQ for more than $500m in cash.
This is the latest security-based acquisition for Microsoft which in June acquired ReFirm Labs, a start-up developing security solutions for IoT devices and servers, and last year purchased CyberX.
San Francisco-based RiskIQ was founded in 2009 by Elias Manousos, Chris Kiernan and David Pon. The firm raised approximately $83m in funding over four rounds and operates on a SaaS model. Its cloud-based tools help organisations to assess their level of exposure to attack across their networks, as well as detecting threats as they occur. Its clients includes BMW, American Express, Facebook and the US Postal Service.
Microsoft has not made clear how RiskIQ’s software might be integrated into its own existing cloud security suite, which includes 365 Defender, Azure Defender and Azure Sentinel.
Commenting on the move, Manousos, who currently serves as RiskIQ’s CEO, said: “The vision and mission of RiskIQ is to provide unmatched internet visibility and insights to better protect and inform our customers and partners’ security programs. We’re thrilled to add RiskIQ’s attack surface and threat intelligence solutions to the Microsoft security portfolio, extending and accelerating our impact.
“Our combined capabilities will enable best-in-class protection, investigations, and response against today’s threats.”
Eric Doerr, vice-president of cloud security at Microsoft, added: “RiskIQ has built a strong customer base and community of security professionals who we will continue to support, nurture and grow. RiskIQ’s technology and team will be a powerful addition to our security portfolio to best serve our mutual customers.”
A recent insurance report labelled ransomware attacks “a digital pandemic”, with one on 2 July affecting more than 1,000 businesses across the world.
