Microsoft Improves Cyberattack Security Measures

In the modern interconnected world, we rely on technology to complete work, and enjoy various forms of entertainment. Unfortunately, this means there are unscrupulous individuals who try to exploit any loopholes and attack networks. Perhaps, they feel this is a way of exposing a company’s poor security or attempt to ruin people’s free time in a bitter manner. Whatever the case, there’s numerous examples of networks being breached including PlayStation Network. Recently, Xbox Live has suffered from some downtime, due to cyberattacks. This isn’t acceptable for either Sony or Microsoft because they are charging a fee to access a service.

On another note, Steam encountered problems due to a caching error, and allowed access to other people’s accounts. This emphasizes the need for extremely secure networks which involves a great deal of investment. Back in November, Microsoft opened a new facility which brings together around 50 security experts from various divisions including the Office, Windows, Azure, Xbox and other groups. This means they can unify different teams with roughly 3,500 other security employees throughout various offices. Hopefully, this should improve security measures, and help prevent cyberattacks from occurring. While the new facility’s cost is unknown, reports suggest the company has spent $1 billion on security last year. Duncan Brown, research director at IDC Research Inc said:

“Microsoft has been on the fringe of security for some time,”

“Now, they are putting it at the center of operations.”

According to Microsoft, every second matters when dealing with cyberattacks, and it’s essential to have a rapid response. The best form of this is via “machine learning”. So how does this work? Microsoft hired a group of white-hat hackers known as Red Team to attack its networks. The information during these breaches are monitored by programs alongside real attacks to form a database which should help with future cyberattacks. It’s always a difficult task to deal with complicated attacks from criminals, but it’s clear that Microsoft is investing in security infrastructure.