NEW YORK — In his first moves on cybersecurity in nearly two years as Chief Executive Officer, Satya Nadella is building a dedicated site and assembling a new group of experts to help Microsoft respond faster to threats across its various products.
“This is so that, like any intelligence operation, we don’t have silos,” Chief Executive Officer said Tuesday at a conference in Washington. “We’ll have people who’ll be able to in real-time connect the dots across what’s happening across all of these services.”
Cybersecurity, preventing hacking and data theft, is a key challenge in the software industry after high-profile recent attacks, including on Sony Corp., Anthem Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Just in 2015, the top eight breaches have compromised 160 million data records, Nadella said.
Microsoft, whose software and operating systems run the vast majority of personal computers, has been working to bulk up cybersecurity features as it seeks to boost sales in cloud and productivity products. The company spends more than $1 billion in security research and development every year, Nadella said.
Now, Windows 10 is the most secure operating system and is ready for deployment to all enterprises and organizations, Nadella said.
Microsoft’s new security strategy centers around a platform that offers features to protect from, detect, and respond to threats, an intelligence network and coordination with other industry players, Nadella said.
To facilitate that, Microsoft is planning a site staffed around the clock with employees from across different departments to analyze data from all the products and respond in real-time to threats, he said. It has also created the Enterprise Cybersecurity Group to support customers’ needs to keep their data safe.
Part of the new strategy is to offer cloud, mobile and on-premises security features accessed through Microsoft’s Windows 10, Azure and Office 365 products, he said. The products integrate with one another and “inter-operate” with such other security providers as Barracuda Networks Inc. and Symantec Corp.
“We don’t think of security as being a separate piece of technology,” Nadella said. “It has to be core to the operational systems that you use, where your data resides, where your most critical applications usage is.”
The security platform includes more than 15 features designed to protect information and data across all devices and sensors, detect threats and attacks and help enterprises respond more quickly.
Nadella also emphasized the importance of working with partners across the industry, noting that Microsoft uses third-party products internally to boost security.
