Microsoft Launches New AI Security Agents Amid Surge in Cyberthreats
Warning! GuruFocus has detected 1 Warning Sign with MSFT.
The company said on Monday that it will be releasing 11 new Security Copilot agents in April. These agents will help automate a lot of security jobs, such as finding phishing attempts, stopping data loss, managing vulnerabilities, and controlling who can access your information.Microsoft says there have been a lot more hacks lately. Every day, its systems look at 84 trillion security signs and stop over 30 billion fake emails until 2024. The company says that these levels of traffic are too much for security teams that use human methods for finding and sorting messages.It took six months of work to make six of the agents. They include tools for phishing review, insider risk management, identity access policy enforcement, vulnerability repair, threat intelligence gathering, and more. The tools are made to work with all of Microsoft's systems, including Microsoft Defender, Microsoft Purview, and Microsoft Entra. This will help security teams respond faster, respond to risks in real time, and improve operations while keeping control.Microsoft is also delivering five more agents with the help of partners such as OneTrust, Aviatrix, BlueVoyant, Tanium, and Fletch. These solutions will help businesses handle data breaches, keep an eye on network problems, evaluate security operations, put danger alerts in context, and decide which big cyber risks need the most attention.Microsoft said it will roll out controls to find and stop illegal access to shadow AI apps, which are unapproved creative AI tools that are used without IT oversight. This comes as worries about these apps grow. Some of these are a new AI web category screen and rules built into Microsoft Edge for businesses to stop data loss. These features are meant to keep private data from being entered into apps like Google Gemini, ChatGPT, Copilot Chat, and DeepSeek.The company is also adding more cloud providers and AI models to its AI security posture management. Microsoft Defender will protect Google Vertex AI, Meta Llama, Mistral, and other models in the Azure AI Foundry starting in May 2025. The Open Worldwide Application Security Project lists threats like indirect prompt injection attacks, private data leaks, and token abuse. More tools will be made available to find these threats.Microsoft said that starting in April 2025, one of its new features will be hacking defense in Microsoft Teams. Defender for Office 365 will also offer real-time link destruction and warning viewing.The improvements are part of the company's larger effort to help secure AI change as more businesses use creative tools. Microsoft pointed to its own study that showed 57% of companies have had more security problems since using AI, while 60% have not yet put controls in place.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC News
an hour ago
- NBC News
Microsoft's Satya Nadella says job cuts have been 'weighing heavily' on him
Microsoft has laid off over 15,000 people so far in 2025. The stress of the belt-tightening has gotten to CEO Satya Nadella. 'Before anything else, I want to speak to what's been weighing heavily on me, and what I know many of you are thinking about: the recent job eliminations,' Nadella wrote in a memo to employees Thursday. After Microsoft's latest labor reductions, investors pushed the stock's closing price above $500 for the first time on July 9. The company announced the layoffs of about 9,000 people a week earlier. Microsoft employed 228,000 people as of June 2024. It hasn't provided a new figure that takes into account its layoffs this year, but Nadella wrote that headcount is basically flat. 'This is the enigma of success in an industry that has no franchise value,' he wrote. 'Progress isn't linear. It's dynamic, sometimes dissonant, and always demanding. But it's also a new opportunity for us to shape, lead through, and have greater impact than ever before.' The cuts at Microsoft are reflective of an overall trend across the tech industry, with over 80,000 positions eliminated to date in 2025, according to one count. Recruit Holdings announced earlier this month that it would lay off 1,300 people from its human resources technology segment that includes the Indeed and Glassdoor websites. The company's CEO pointed to artificial intelligence in a memo, Bloomberg reported. On social media in recent months, some Microsoft employees have become disheartened about the company's cutbacks, given its stature. 'I have loved working for this company, still do, but this has done so much damage to that loyalty because it has shown that Microsoft's espoused values do not apply to business decisions at the macro level,' a person who lists themselves as a Microsoft directed on LinkedIn posted last week. Microsoft is the world's most valuable public company after Nvidia, whose chips have become a critical piece of the AI arms race. Microsoft's Windows and Office franchises remain dominant, and its Azure cloud services have seen faster growth in recent years as OpenAI and other companies rent out Nvidia graphics cards to run AI models. In the memo, Nadella touched on Microsoft's mission for the past 10 years, which has been to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, and how the rise of AI is changing it. 'We must reimagine our mission for a new era,' he wrote. 'What does empowerment look like in the era of AI? It's not just about building tools for specific roles or tasks. It's about building tools that empower everyone to create their own tools. That's the shift we are driving — from a software factory to an intelligence engine empowering every person and organization to build whatever they need to achieve.'
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
OKTA Trades 25% Below 52-Week High: Right Time to Buy the Stock?
Okta OKTA shares closed at $95.63 on Wednesday, roughly 25% below the 52-week high of $127.57 it hit on May 16, 2025. Okta shares have appreciated 21.3% year to date, outperforming the Zacks Computer and Technology sector's return of 10.1% and the Zacks Security industry's increase of 19.7%.Okta shares have outperformed peers, including CyberArk CYBR, Cisco Systems CSCO and Microsoft MSFT year to date. CyberArk, Cisco, and Microsoft shares have appreciated 12.9%, 15.9% and 20%, innovative portfolio and rich partner base are helping Okta shares outperform. The company benefits from strong demand for its new products, including Identity Governance, Privileged Access, Device Access, Fine Grained Authorization, Identity Security Posture Management, and Identity Threat Protection with Okta AI. Okta's offerings include Okta AI, a suite of AI-powered capabilities embedded across several products, which empowers organizations to harness AI to build better experiences and protect against cyberattacks. OKTA Stock's Performance Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Okta's strong liquidity is a key catalyst. The company ended the first quarter of fiscal 2026 with $2.73 billion in cash, cash equivalents, short-term, and long-term investments. Net cash provided by operations was $241 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, while free cash flow was $238 million. For fiscal 2026, Okta raised free cash flow margin guidance to roughly 27%.However, the company is facing a challenging macroeconomic condition and stiff competition in the Identity and Access management domain, which is expected to hurt prospects. Okta shares are overvalued, as suggested by the Value Score of D. In terms of forward Price/Cash Flow, OKTA is trading at 22.51X compared with the broader sector's 22.03X and Cisco's 20.6X, suggesting a premium valuation. However, in comparison to Microsoft and CyberArk, Okta is cheap. Microsoft is trading at 28.88X while CyberArk is trading at 73.58X. Price/Cash Flow Image Source: Zacks Investment Research So, what should investors do with Okta stock at the current level? Let's dig deep into its fundamentals to gain some insight. OKTA to Benefit From Innovation, Rich Partner Base Okta is expanding its security portfolio with the launch of a new protocol, Cross App Access, which helps in securing AI agents. End users ultimately benefit as the latest protocol removes repetitive authorization consent screens and manages agent access for better security and compliance. The latest protocol reflects Okta's commitment to protecting its customers deploying AI. The company's focus on protecting non-human identities (NHIs) and developers building secure agents is noteworthy. Okta is benefiting from a rich partner base that includes the likes of Amazon Web Services, CrowdStrike, Google, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Microsoft, Netskope, Palo Alto Networks, Plaid, Proofpoint, Salesforce, ServiceNow, VMware, Workday, Yubico and Zscaler. The company has more than 7,000 integrations with cloud, mobile, and web applications and IT infrastructure providers as of April 30, innovative portfolio and rich partner base are helping the company win clients. It exited first-quarter fiscal 2026 with roughly 20,000 customers, reflecting strong growth prospects for subscription revenues. Customers with more than $100 thousand in Annual Contract Value increased by 70 sequentially to 4,870. The combined governance portfolio of Okta Identity Governance, Lifecycle Management, and Workflows has surged 400% over the past three years to nearly $40 billion at the end of the fiscal first quarter. OKTA's FY26 Guidance Reflects Slowing Federal Business For fiscal 2026, OKTA still expects revenues between $2.85 billion and $2.86 billion, indicating 9-10% growth from the figure reported in fiscal 2025. Uncertainty in the federal business, along with challenging macroeconomic conditions, is a headwind for the company. However, Okta expects fiscal 2026 non-GAAP earnings between $3.23 and $3.28 per share, up from previous guidance between $3.15 and $3.20 per share. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Okta's earnings has increased 9 cents over the past 60 days to $3.28 per share. The earnings figure suggests 16.73% growth over the figure reported in fiscal 2025. Okta, Inc. Price and Consensus Okta, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Okta, Inc. Quote Okta expects second-quarter fiscal 2026 revenues between $710 million and $712 million, indicating 10% year-over-year growth. The current portion of the company's remaining performance obligations is expected in the 10-11% range. Okta anticipates non-GAAP earnings between 83 cents and 84 cents per share. For second-quarter fiscal 2026, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for OKTA's earnings has increased by a nickel to 84 cents per share over the past 60 days. The earnings figure suggests 16.67% year-over-year growth. Conclusion Despite a challenging macroeconomic condition, anticipated sluggishness in federal business and a stretched valuation, Okta rides on an innovative portfolio and an expanding currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and a Growth Score of A, a favorable combination that offers a strong investment opportunity, per the Zacks Proprietary methodology. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) : Free Stock Analysis Report CyberArk Software Ltd. (CYBR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Okta, Inc. (OKTA) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Microsoft expands AI R&D footprint with first Southeast Asia lab in Singapore
The new Singapore lab aims to boost AI breakthroughs, tackle societal challenges, and co-innovate in areas such as healthcare, finance, and sustainability. Microsoft Research Asia has opened its first lab in Southeast Asia to pursue frontier breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI) foundations. Situated in Singapore, the lab will do so by cultivating an AI-centric ecosystem, co-innovating with industries, tackling societal challenges with AI, and fostering AI talent. 'We think of Microsoft Research Asia not only as a talent engine and a fundamental research laboratory, but also as a bridge. [It'll be] a bridge between theory and practice, between East and the West, between academic work and industrial development, and between Singapore and Microsoft,' says Peter Lee, president of Microsoft Research, at the launch. Lidong Zhou, Microsoft's corporate vice president and managing director of Microsoft Research Asia, adds: 'By working closely with Singapore's research and innovation ecosystem, we aim to accelerate scientific discovery and build AI technologies that drive real impact for industry, society and individuals alike.' The Singapore lab will focus on applying AI to key industries, namely healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, transport and logistics, and energy and sustainability. In healthcare, for example, the lab will collaborate with SingHealth to develop AI capabilities for personalised analysis and improved diagnostic accuracy. 'The collaboration aims to establish a pathology research workload that can identify and analyse features in pathology images, correlate them with clinical behaviours, treatment responses and outcomes, and integrate machine-discovered features with individual patient data. This may enable clinicians to make more precise outcome predictions and prescribe treatment tailored to each individual patient," says Professor Ng Wai Hoe, SingHealth's group chief executive officer. The initiative will be built on Microsoft Research Asia's multimodal biomedical foundation model and trained further using SingHealth's high-resolution pathology data. 'We will begin this endeavour through dynamic learning and increasing model sophistication. [While this initiative] starts with colorectal cancer, we anticipate developing AI-enabled tools for application across various other cancers and diseases,' adds Ng. The Singapore lab's research agenda supports Singapore's National AI Strategy 2.0. "The refreshed national AI strategy aims to maximise the potential of the technology for both economic and society. We are very focused on sharpening our AI capabilities in areas of national importance, alongside education, urban solutions, sustainability, and healthcare," says Dr Tan See Leng, Minister for Manpower and Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science & Technology at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, at the same event. He adds: "It is our hope that Microsoft Research Asia's presence will inspire even more companies to leverage AI to build a more vibrant innovation ecosystem in Singapore and in critical areas that can advance our humanity." On the talent front, the lab will collaborate with Singapore's local universities to drive both fundamental and applied research, while giving students hands-on experience. The universities include the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and Singapore Management University. The launch of the Singapore lab builds on Microsoft Research Asia's five-year collaboration agreement with NUS, signed earlier this year, to accelerate AI research and nurture computing talent in the region. Although the Singapore lab is new, Microsoft Research Asia has engaged in more than 70 joint research projects and trained 85 interns and 13 PhD fellows in the city-state since 2004. The Singapore facility becomes the 14th lab in Microsoft's global research network, which includes locations in Beijing, Shanghai and Tokyo. 4 trillion by 2030, driven by 5G and AI AI should run on 100% renewable energy by 2030, UN Chief says Read more stories about where the money flows, and analysis of the biggest market stories from Singapore and around the World Get in-depth insights from our expert contributors, and dive into financial and economic trends Follow the market issue situation with our daily updates Or want more Lifestyle and Passion stories? Click hereSign in to access your portfolio
