Microsoft has signed a letter of intent to buy Israeli firm, Adallom. This is according to sources who are familiar with both parties and the purported deal, Wallstreet Journal reported in an article. The deal is reported to cost 320 million dollars, and Microsoft will be paying it all in cash. Microsoft has previously acquired three other firms from Israel from the beginning of the year. If the deal pushes through, Adallom will be Microsoft's fourth acquisition from Israel.
Adallom and Microsoft have neither confirmed nor denied the rumors of the deal.
The firm specializes on cloud security. It monitors cloud information based applications, and subsequently offers services for apps such as Google Apps and Microsoft Office 365. The firm also monitors the usage of the applications for individual employees, looking into terms and patterns of use. It then alerts security systems once anomalies are seen, signing them off as possible breaches.
Adallom is based in Tel-Aviv, and it was founded in 2012. Among the company's clients are LinkedIn and Netflix. The possible acquisition and partnership between the companies are aimed at developing Microsoft's cybersecurity system. The company will continue its operations in Israel after the deal materializes.
In January, the software company bought Aorato, also an Israel-based startup, for 200 million dollars. Aorato is also a firm that specializes in cloud security, and similarly monitors app usage for cloud programs. Microsoft has previously said that buying Aorato means boosting the services the company offers to its clients, by providing more solid security measures, especially for programs used in businesses.
Israel is known to house information technology startups. Some of them have recently been incorporated to mainstream tech giants, like, in this case Microsoft, and Facebook. The social network bought Pebbles, a virtual reality company also based in Israel, last week.
