Microsoft confirms acquisition of Israel-based cyber security firm Secure Islands

Following rumors that Microsoft was set to acquire Israel-based security company Secure Islands for $150 million, Microsoft has now confirmed the deal that will see Secure Islands’ technology integrated into Microsoft’s Azure Rights Management Service. Neither company has disclosed how much the deal is worth.

Today’s news marks Microsoft’s fourth Israeli acquisition of recent times, and two of these prior acquisitions also included cyber security startups. Microsoft snapped up Adallom for an undisclosed sum in September, and has also bought enterprise security startup Aorato, along with Equivio, and N-Trig.

Secure Islands’ technology is already used by big-name companies including Credit Suisse, Vodafone, and UBS, and it’s designed to protect data across nearly any file-type. Secure Islands and Microsoft have worked together for some time already through Microsoft’s Azure Rights Management Service, and while this deal brings the two firms together, Secure Islands will continue to offer its existing services to other companies.

“When Yuval (cofounder Yuval Eldar) and I founded Secure Islands nine years ago, we shared one vision: to provide customers with the most efficient and reliable solution for information protection and control,” explained Secure Islands CEO Aki Eldar, in a statement.

“In those days, it was still a nascent market for technology like ours, but we knew the customer need was there. Together, with our team of “marathon runners,” we have been thrilled to see our solutions adopted by some of the most prestigious companies around the world.”

Eldar went on to explain the benefits of this deal, “By joining Microsoft, we will be able to extend and expand our vision. Microsoft has been a long time partner and its leadership in enterprise IT, its resources and global reach will help us innovate and deliver new information protection capabilities to both our current and new customer base.”

Microsoft has been pushing its cloud credentials of late, and chief executive Satya Nadella announced back in June that creating “the intelligent cloud platform” would be one of three key investment areas moving forward. And acquisitions are proving pivotal to this new direction.

The cloud is clearly a big focus for this latest acquisition, with Microsoft able to offer its own customers better data-protection services across Azure and Office 365, though it can also work with on-site storage systems.