Microsoft to acquire Israeli cyber security firm Secure Islands for reported $77M

Microsoft has worked with the company for a number of years, and Secure Islands’ solutions have been built using Microsoft’s rights management technology.

Secure Islands is the third Israeli security company Microsoft has acquired since November 2014.

The acquisition will help Microsoft level up its Azure Rights Management Service, which lets companies protect files individually and in bulk with tools that ensure they aren’t opened or modified by people who are unauthorized to do so. According to IVC’s databank Secure Islands started out in the Chief Scientist funded Xenia Venture Capital Ltd. (TASE:XENA) Van Leer incubator in Jerusalem., and has raised $20 million to date.

Secure Islands was founded in 2006 by brothers Aki and Yuval Eldar. The company’s current client list includes OSRAM, Credit Suisse, UBS, and Vodafone.

Microsoft has confirmed its purchase of partner company Secure Islands Technologies, an Israeli business specializing in advanced data protection, classification, and loss prevention technologies. In those days, it was still a nascent market for technology like ours, but we knew the customer need was there.

The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval.

Microsoft already uses Secure Islands for data protection within Azure Rights Management Service, its cloud-based information protection service.

Today’s news marks Microsoft’s fifth Israeli acquisition of 2015, and two of these prior acquisitions also included cyber security startups.

Microsoft says its investing in this space because enterprise customers are required to keep data in less-than-ideal locations outside their control, like customer mobile devices, cloud storage vendors and other third party services.

Eldar went on to explain the benefits of this deal, “By joining Microsoft, we will be able to extend and expand our vision”.