Microsoft has announced the buyout of Israeli data protection firm, Secure Islands.
“Furthering Microsoft’s investments in security technology, I am pleased to announce today that Microsoft has signed an agreement to acquire Secure Islands, an innovator in advanced information protection solutions,” said Takeshi Numoto, Microsoft corporate VP Cloud and Enterprise Marketing.
“This acquisition accelerates our ability to help customers secure their business data no matter where it is stored – across on-premises systems, Microsoft cloud services like Azure and Office 365, third-party services, and any Windows, iOS or Android device.”
This is Microsoft’s third purchase of an Israeli cybersecurity company. The multinational company paid $320 million for Adallom in July and $200 million for Aorato last November.
The nine-year-old company is said to have been bought for $150 million, according to Israeli business daily, Globes.
Secure Islands was founded by brothers Aki and Yuval Eldar. The company’s flagship product, IQProtector, is said to “immunize” data by embedding classification and security protections into documents at the moment they’re created.
“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,” said Aki Eldar, CEO.
“Businesses continue to face challenges protecting their data in a world where information travels beyond the boundary of the corporate network and across many devices outside company control. To work effectively, organizations must share information with partners, vendors and customers. These realities make it more critical than ever to have solutions that prevent data loss and track information regardless of where it resides,” said Numoto.
The closing of the acquisition is subject to regulatory approval.
In the last year, Microsoft also bought digital pen company N-Trig, for $200 million in February, and text analysis company Equivio, for $200 million in January.