Hexadite established in 2014

Reports circulating in the Israeli financial press indicate that Microsoft has apparently acquired Hexadite, a cybersecurity firm established in 2014 by three former members of elite intelligence units who had also previously worked for Elbit Systems.

Offering “cyber analyst thinking at the speed of automation,” Hexadite’s software solution is driven by artificial intelligence and investigates every alert in seconds, according to the company’s promotional materials. Its software integrates with existing detection and protection tools from established firms such as Kaspersky Lab and Check Point, relieving analysts of time consuming repetitive investigations and releasing them to focus on alerts that have serious potential effects. Sophisticated algorithms within Hexadite’s Automated Incident Response Solution (AIRS) enable a hierarchy of responses to be developed rapidly.

Headquartered in Boston with an R&D centre in Tel Aviv, Hexadite employs 35 people. Its acquisition marks Microsoft’s second of an Israeli high tech firm within a month: it acquired Cloudyn, a cloud-monitoring startup, for $70 million.

Tim Mahon