The news in brief: CyberX’s IoT/OT-aware behavioral analytics platform integrates with Azure security to deliver end-to-end security across managed and unmanaged IoT devices

Everyone has discussed Industrial Control Systems (ICS) cyber risks almost to the point of nausea for several years. Startups in the OT cybersecurity space began popping like dandelions in spring. For a couple of years their display spaces at the ARC Industry Forum paid for the room and then some.

While I like all these companies, I couldn’t see how any could make it long as a standalone company. Sure enough, CyberX has agreed to be acquired by Microsoft.

Here is the justification: As enterprises implement digital transformation and Industry 4.0 for greater efficiency and productivity, boards and management teams are increasingly concerned about the financial and liability risk resulting from the deployment of massive numbers of connected IoT and OT devices. Adversaries targeting this expanded attack surface can cause substantial corporate impact including safety and environmental incidents, costly production downtime, and theft of sensitive intellectual property.

By integrating the CyberX platform with the Azure IoT stack, Azure Security Center for IoT, and Azure Sentinel, the first SIEM with native IoT support, Microsoft will now provide a simpler approach to unified security governance across both IT and industrial networks, as well as end-to-end security across managed and unmanaged IoT devices, enabling organizations to quickly detect and respond to advanced threats in converged networks.

“CyberX’s technology and team are a great addition to Microsoft,” said Michal Braverman-Blumenstyk, Corporate Vice President, Cloud & AI Security CTO, and Israel R&D Center GM. “With CyberX’s expertise and innovative platform, together with Microsoft’s exciting security products, Microsoft is offering a powerful and scalable solution that accelerates digitalization for enterprises at all phases of their IoT/OT journey.”

Founded in 2013, CyberX achieved tremendous growth with the world’s largest enterprises adopting its IoT/OT security platform to secure their facilities worldwide. Leveraging patented, IoT/OT-aware behavioral analytics, CyberX’s agentless technology deploys in minutes to deliver deep visibility into IoT/OT risk — including asset discovery, vulnerability management, and continuous threat monitoring — with zero impact due to its passive Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) approach.

“Nir and I founded CyberX with the goal of delivering a scalable solution that would be easy to deploy and reduce risk for enterprises worldwide,” said Omer Schneider, co-founder and CEO of CyberX. “We’re thankful to our loyal customers and partners as well as to our dedicated employees whose innovation and hard work made it possible for us to reach this important milestone, and also to our investors for their ongoing support.”

“By joining forces with Microsoft, we will rapidly scale our business and technology to securely enable digital transformation for many more organizations,” said Nir Giller, co-founder, GM International, and CTO of CyberX. “Together, CyberX and Microsoft provide an unbeatable solution for gaining visibility and a holistic understanding of risk for all IoT and OT devices in your enterprise.”

CyberX’s founders will join Microsoft and the platform will continue to be enhanced and supported by CyberX personnel. In addition, Microsoft is committed to the channel and will continue working with CyberX’s strategic reseller and technology partners worldwide. The CyberX platform will continue to be available in a hybrid model supporting both cloud-connected and air-gapped networks.

From the Microsoft point of view—Two years ago, Microsoft announced a $5 billion investment in IoT and with this acquisition, the company is eager to continue solving these challenges. Some specifics:

• With CyberX, customers can discover their existing IoT assets, and both manage and improve the security posture of those devices. For example, customers can, often for the first time, see a digital map of thousands of devices across a factory floor or within a building and gather information about their security state and connectivity.

• CyberX’s further integration with Microsoft’s broad portfolio will allow Microsoft to continue to deliver more value to customers. For example, in conjunction with Azure Sentinel, SecOps personnel will be able to identify threats that span OT and IT converged networks that were previously challenging to detect.

• Microsoft appreciates that some customers need help improving the security of their existing IoT environment and is excited that CyberX’s technology and team will be an incredible addition to the company’s commitment to both IoT security and innovation as customers work to digitally transform their businesses.

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