Darktrace / CLOUD™ brings real-time cloud detection and response to Microsoft Azure

Press Release

Darktrace / CLOUD™ brings real-time cloud detection and response to Microsoft Azure

• AI-based CDR system provides real-time detection, investigation, and prioritization of cloud threats.
• Integration with Microsoft Azure's virtual network flow logs lowers deployment times by 95%.
• Darktrace research shows almost two thirds of cybersecurity professionals expect cloud security to be where defensive AI has the greatest impact by 2027.
• Darktrace / CLOUD leverages virtual network flow logs to understand the unique network patterns of Azure environments.

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Darktrace, a global leader in AI for cybersecurity, today announced the expansion of Darktrace / CLOUD to support Microsoft Azure environments. The AI-driven Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) system leverages Microsoft's virtual network flow logs for agentless deployment, slashing deployment times by 95%.

The need for AI-driven cloud security has never been more critical. 51% of US organizations use cloud computing today^[1], and global spending on public cloud services is expected to reach $805 billion in 2024^[2]. Moreover, Darktrace's State of AI Cybersecurity report found that 61% of cybersecurity professionals surveyed believe cloud security will be the area most impacted by defensive AI over the next three years. Yet, security professionals highlight lack of skills and cost as barriers to building^[3]. Darktrace / CLOUD helps organizations tackle these challenges head on.‍

Enabling teams through real-time understanding, detection and response in the cloud
Also available for AWS deployments, Darktrace / CLOUD is built from the ground up for cloud defense. It leverages Darktrace's unique Self-Learning AI to monitor cloud assets, containers and users, and correlate that activity with identity and network data from across an organization's digital ecosystem. This contextualized understanding enables Darktrace / CLOUD to provide proactive detection, investigation and response to malicious activity across cloud environments, within seconds.

Darktrace's Self-Learning AI also enables Darktrace / CLOUD to deliver automated Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM). It continuously assesses cloud configurations against industry standards, and allows security teams to identify and prioritize misconfigurations, vulnerabilities, and policy violations in real-time. These capabilities give security teams a complete, live understanding of their cloud environments and help them focus their limited time and resources where they are needed most.

"At Center Parcs, we've brought WiFi to the forest. Our network enables everything down to ordering food or paying for an activity with a QR code and smartphone. Cloud is central to that," comments Haider Kubba, Group Information Security Officer at Center Parcs, the UK's leading short break vacation destination, running six vacation villages in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

"Cloud audit logging and audit review, and the flexibility of cloud in general, is amazing for business - but it's also a challenge for security, and it's on the security team to say 'Yes, we can absolutely make this happen securely'. With Darktrace, I know my cloud formation, my cloud infrastructure, the environment in which a lot of guests will be interacting with, is secure."

Orla McGrath, Global Partner Solutions Lead, UK, Microsoft adds, "Darktrace / CLOUD is an exciting expansion of Darktrace and Microsoft's longstanding collaboration. It brings real-time cloud detection and response to Microsoft Azure customers, and through Darktrace's integration with virtual network flow logs, makes accessing that new level of security fast and simple."‍

Simplified deployment with Microsoft Azure
Darktrace / CLOUD is one of the first security systems to integrate with Microsoft Azure's virtual network flow logs for agentless deployment into the cloud. By leveraging virtual network flow logs, Darktrace / CLOUD automatically captures network data and integrates into Azure cloud environments with minimal manual effort beyond initial configuration. Consequently, deployment times are reduced to as little as 15 minutes, from several weeks, common for agent-based systems, and several days with most agentless systems.

"The availability of Darktrace / CLOUD in Microsoft Azure offers new security opportunities for single and multi-cloud users, including improved identity and access management (IAM), which has been voted by European security leaders as the top cloud security challenge facing their organizations in 2024. It also offers new possibilities for agentless cloud detection and response, taking advantage of Azure's new virtual network flow logs," said David Clemente, IDC.‍

Lowered cloud operating costs through agentless deployment
Darktrace / CLOUD's agentless approach additionally lowers the cost of operating cloud by eliminating the CPU and memory consumption associated with cloud security agents. Through Darktrace / CLOUD's agentless approach, the need for dedicated resources per cloud instance is reduced and performance impact minimized. Teams can scale their security across their cloud architecture without the cost of additional agents.

"As organizations rapidly transition to the cloud, cloud detection and response are becoming critical to ensuring safety and security, but personnel and cost are proving notable barriers to their effective deployment," comments Max Heinemeyer, Chief Product Officer at Darktrace.

"We built Darktrace / CLOUD to help teams protect their cloud with the resources they have. Using our Self-Learning AI, integrated with Microsoft Azure, it deploys quickly and easily then provides teams with constant visibility, autonomous investigation and real-time response without ballooning operating costs. Teams can focus on building their resilience, not firefighting."
Darktrace / CLOUD is available through Azure Marketplace via private offer, listed under Darktrace ActiveAI Security Platform™.

For more information about Darktrace / CLOUD and its support for Azure, please visit darktrace.com/blog/introducing-real-time-multi-cloud-detection-response-powered-by-ai.

[1] https://awsus.publicfirst.co/
[2] IDC Press Release,Worldwide Spending on Public Cloud Services is Forecast to Double Between 2024 and 2028, According to New IDC Spending Guide, July 2024
[3] https://files.scmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/CBIR_Cloud-Security_CISO-Stories.pdf

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