Microsoft plans to beef up Active Directory's security with machine learning technology from a startup it has acquired.
The security technology from Aorato will give Microsoft customers "a new level of protection against threats through better visibility into their identity infrastructure," Takeshi Numoto, corporate vice president of Cloud and Enterprise Marketing at Microsoft, wrote in a blog post.
"With Aorato we will accelerate our ability to give customers powerful identity and access solutions that span on-premises and the cloud," he added.
The Aorato technology provides "intelligent" protection inside company networks by learning what normal behavior is and taking action when it detects anomalies, according to Microsoft.
It bases its knowledge on a continuously updated "security graph" that maps all the people and devices tapping Windows Server Active Directory, the Microsoft server used by businesses as a repository for user access credentials to applications and systems. The Aorato technology will complement similar functionality Microsoft has already deployed in its cloud Azure Active Directory service.
The acquisition doesn't come as a major surprise. In July, The Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources, reported the companies were in talks for Microsoft to buy Aorato for about $200 million. The Journal reiterated that price tag when it again reported on the deal on Thursday.
Microsoft declined to comment on the terms of the deal.
Aorato appeared on Microsoft's radar screen after one of its executives detailed in a blog post what he considered was an Active Directory security vulnerability. At the time, Microsoft downplayed Aorato's concerns.
Aorato, based in Israel, launched its Directory Services Application Firewall (DAF) this year. Now that it has been acquired by Microsoft, Aorato will stop selling that product. "We will share more on the future direction and packaging of these capabilities at a later time," reads a message on the company's home page.
Juan Carlos Perez covers enterprise communication/collaboration suites, operating systems, browsers and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Juan on Twitter at @JuanCPerezIDG.
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