Microsoft has taken measures to counter recent attacks by acquiring a company which specializes in the development of automatic incident and remediation solutions. The corporation has bought out Boston-based Hexadite, a firm which works in collaboration with researchers from Tel Aviv, Israel.
The main goal for Microsoft is to improve Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection. The company will use the technology developed by Hexadite to implement artificial intelligence-based automatic investigation and remediation capabilities.
The corporation aims to enhance the overall security of Windows 10. The key areas for improvement include zero-day attacks, ransomware and cyber threats beside malware. The latter pertains to threats whose detection is typically based on virus definition shipped to clients.
Microsoft’s quest to improve zero-day protection
The plan following the acquisition is to transfer the entire Hexadite team to the Windows Devices Group. This evidences that the main assignment for the engineers will be to improve the security features of Windows 10.
“Our vision is to deliver a new generation of security capabilities that helps our customers protect, detect and respond to the constantly evolving and ever-changing cyberthreat landscape,” disclosed Terry Myerson, executive vice president of Windows and Devices Group at Microsoft. “Hexadite’s technology and talent will augment our existing capabilities and enable our ability to add new tools and services to Microsoft’s robust enterprise security offerings.”
Microsoft has been pushed to improve security in Windows 10 after the recent outburst of malware attacks. The most notable occurrence was the release of WannaCry ransomware which launched an unprecedented attack in May.
WannaCry was based on a SMB vulnerability which was present in every version of Windows. The weakness was discovered prior to the ransomware being launched. Microsoft had taken action and delivered a patch in March. Due to the delayed update cycles, a lot of devices remained unprotected and ended up getting infected with the virus.
The challenge ahead of Microsoft is to optimize protection and mitigation systems to a degree where the company would have extra-time to publish a fix when a new zero-day attack wave is detected.
There is no ETA on when Microsoft will be able to implement the new technology into Windows 10. The process of integrating Hexadite into the Redmond-based corporation may take a while, but the trials are sure to begin as soon as possible.
