Microsoft expands to provide security for multi-cloud environments

Microsoft is expanding its Defender for Cloud service to include the Google Cloud Platform in an effort to simplify security for organizations that use multi-cloud strategies.

The move will see all three of the world’s largest public cloud providers protected under the same Microsoft solution for posture management and threat protection, with AWS and Azure already within its scope.

Support for Google Cloud will come with suggestions for users on how to configure their Google environment to meet key security standards, such as the Internet Security Center (CIS) benchmark, which protects critical workloads running in the Google Cloud, etc.

For years, cloud service providers have focused on the self-security model, however, with the massive shift to multi-cloud business models combined, this approach is becoming less and less feasible.

In a joint survey with polling firm Harris, Microsoft found that 83% of enterprise security teams identified managing the complexity of multi-cloud as their most pressing issue for 2022.

Considering that 92% of businesses surveyed in a recent Flexera report on cloud usage said they have a multi-cloud strategy, this seems to be an important issue facing the entire cloud industry.

As well as supporting Google Cloud, Microsoft is launching a public version of the rights management platform it acquired from CloudKnox last July.

It is also bringing enhanced data analytics features to Microsoft’s Sentinel app along with new identity, compliance, and billing capabilities for Azure.

Vasu Jakkal, the company’s vice president of security, compliance, and identity at Microsoft, said: “Organizations around the world are forced to face sophisticated ransomware and national attacks even as they continually evolve with stricter compliance requirements.

“These new features and services are designed to ensure the foundation of combined work and digital transformation.”