Microsoft MSFT recently announced plans to acquire Miburo, a cyber threat analysis and research start-up. Miburo specializes in the detection of and response to foreign information operations.

As part of the agreement, Microsoft will use Miburo’s cybersecurity tech to partner with other companies in the public and private sectors to find solutions that keep customers safe online.

The move on completion will enable Microsoft to expand its threat detection and analysis capabilities to address new cyber-attacks. It will also help the company develop solutions to identify and stop foreign information operations.

Microsoft Corporation Price and Consensus

Microsoft Corporation price-consensus-chart | Microsoft Corporation Quote

Company’s Focus on Strengthening Cybersecurity Portfolio

Microsoft is one of the largest players in cloud software and infrastructure, which means its technology is already the backbone for businesses of all sizes. It only makes sense if the company also makes security software available to its client base in a market where demand far exceeds supply.

The global cybersecurity market is expected to reach $317.02 billion by 2027, witnessing a CAGR of 13.37%, according to Mordor Intelligence.The rising security threats constantly remind organizations across industries to upgrade their existing IT infrastructure.

These trends bode well for cybersecurity solutions providers such as Microsoft. The company has been working towards strengthening its security solutions portfolio.

Microsoft announced the expansion of its cybersecurity skills camping to an additional 23 countries. As part of the expansion, there will be new targeted investments in countries that are at an elevated cyberthreat risk, such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, India, South Africa and Mexico, among several others.

Earlier, Microsoft issued an update mentioning that its security business revenues have surpassed $15 billion, growing by approximately 45%. Management also revealed that its cloud cyber solution, Azure Sentinel,is being used by 15,000 customers globally.

Microsoft, which carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), faces stiff competition in the addressable market from the likes of Palo Alto Networks PANW, Okta OKTA, CrowdStrike CRWD and others.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Palo Alto Networks, one of the largest pure-play security software companies, expects revenues of $5.481-$5.501 billion, suggesting growth of around 29% from fiscal 2021 levels. Recently, Oracle selected Palo Alto Networks VM-Series Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) as the technology to power the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Network Firewall.

CrowdStrike expects revenue growth of 51%-52% in fiscal 2023. The company recently introduced a new capability called Humio for Falcon. This solution extends the data retention of CrowdStrike Falcon telemetry for more than a year, thus enhancing threat analytics and threat hunting abilities for organizations.

Okta, an independent identity management solutions provider, expects revenue growth of 39%-40% in fiscal 2023. Okta expanded its go-to-market relationship with Ingram Micro in more than 40 countries worldwide. Per the agreement, Okta broadens and strengthens Ingram Micro’s available portfolio of proven cybersecurity solutions. It also introduces channel partners worldwide to the growing opportunity around customer identity and access management solutions

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