Microsoft Acquires Cybersecurity Company Miburo to Boost Its Cyberthreat Detection Research Capabilities

Microsoft announced its plans to acquire cyberthreat analysis and research company Miburo in a Tuesday (June 14) blog post. The cybersecurity company specializes in detecting and responding to foreign information operations.

As part of the terms of the acquisition, Microsoft plans to use Miburo’s cybersecurity tech to partner with other companies in the public and private sectors to find ways to stop foreign adversaries from threatening public and private sector customers, according to the post.

Miburo will become part of the Customer Security and Trust organization, with Founder Clint Watts continuing to head the group, the post stated. By adding the Miburo analyst team to the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center, Threat Context Analysis team, and Microsoft’s data scientist teams, Microsoft can expand its threat detection and analysis capabilities.

This expansion will help take Microsoft to new cybersecurity heights, addressing new cyberattacks and looking into how foreign cyber criminals use data information to commit cybercrimes, according to the post.

Miburo’s research teams have the capability to detect extremist influence campaigns in 16 languages. These capabilities will grow with Microsoft’s resources, leading the way for cybersecurity innovation, the post stated.

Meanwhile, Microsoft and other Big Tech companies are facing scrutiny in the United Kingdom, as the U.K. Treasury has proposed a new regulatory framework that would provide the Bank of England (BoE) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with new powers to oversee tech firms that provide critical services to the financial industry.

Read more: UK Government Wants Financial Regulators to Oversee Amazon, Microsoft Cloud Businesses

The U.K. government is concerned about the growing dependence of banks on cloud computing, as these services are mostly provided by a handful of players. As of 2020, over 65% of U.K. firms used the same four cloud providers for cloud infrastructure services, according to the Treasury statement.