{"id":42239,"date":"2021-07-01T15:35:21","date_gmt":"2021-07-01T15:35:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/?guid=ed1870f20649efe40238c9c8d938ef53"},"modified":"2021-07-01T15:35:21","modified_gmt":"2021-07-01T15:35:21","slug":"microsoft-bolsters-azure-with-att-5g-deal-and-security-collaboration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/microsoft-bolsters-azure-with-att-5g-deal-and-security-collaboration\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft bolsters Azure with AT&T 5G deal and security collaboration"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n Keumars Afifi-Sabet<\/a><\/span>
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1 Jul, 2021<\/span><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Microsoft<\/a> has struck\u00a0agreements with US networking giant AT&T and the cyber security organisation MITRE to bring additional 5G support<\/a> as well as threat monitoring capabilities to Azure.<\/p>\n

As part of its\u00a0deal with MITRE, Microsoft will integrate the organisation\u2019s adversarial tactics, techniques and common knowledge (ATT&CK) framework into its public cloud platform<\/a> in order to build a foundation for developing threat models.<\/p>\n

Separately, the firm has acquired the Network Cloud division of AT&T, which plays host to its core 5G network<\/a>. Microsoft will indirectly own but won\u2019t operate this network, and instead plans to integrate IP and expertise into its Azure for Operators platform.<\/p>\n

These twin deals are part of Microsoft\u2019s strategic efforts to bolster its public cloud platform on the cyber security and networking fronts.<\/p>\n

The AT&T acquisition, for example, is part of a strategic alliance that will see network traffic managed by Microsoft Azure. This is set to begin with the 5G core, the software at the heart of AT&T\u2019s 5G network.<\/p>\n

Microsoft says AT&T will benefit from greater productivity and cost-efficiency as more network workloads migrate to Azure for Operators. The firm will also use the company\u2019s hybrid and hyperscale<\/span> infrastructure to reduce costs.<\/p>\n

The Network Cloud platform, which Microsoft is acquiring, has been running AT&T\u2019s 5G core network since 2018. Microsoft will integrate this into its Azure for Operators platform to allow operators to run\u00a0telecoms networks in the cloud.<\/p>\n

Microsoft will benefit from access to IP and technical expertise to grow its product, building on the 2020 acquisitions of Affirmed Networks and Metaswitch<\/span> Networks. It\u2019s also acquiring AT&T\u2019s engineering and lifecycle management software that\u2019s used to develop carrier-grade cloud that can run containerised or virtualised network services.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Azure, operators can provide a more flexible and scalable service model, save infrastructure cost, and use AI to automate operations and differentiate customer offerings,\u201d said executive vice president of Azure, Jason Zander.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough our collaboration with AT&T, Microsoft will expand its telecom portfolio to support operators with a carrier-grade cloud that provides seamless experiences across Microsoft\u2019s cloud and the operator\u2019s network.\u201d<\/p>\n

Microsoft\u2019s partnership with MITRE, meanwhile, has seen the firm integrate the ATT&CK framework into Azure to launch the Security Stack Mappings for Azure research project. This has introduced a library of mappings that connect built-in Azure security controls to the techniques, identified by ATT&CK, that they\u2019re designed to protect against.<\/p>\n

The project aims to plug an information gap for businesses seeking to proactively secure their public cloud deployment. This project creates data that shows how built-in security controls might secure their assets against the specific attack methods most likely to target them.<\/p>\n

\u201cMicrosoft has worked to expand the suite of built-in security controls in Azure which, while highly effective for protecting customer environments, can feel overwhelming to understand across an organisation\u2019s entire Azure estate,\u201d said senior threat intel<\/span> librarian with Microsoft\u2019s threat intelligence centre, Madeline Carmichael.<\/p>\n

\u201cMITRE has developed the ATT&CK framework into a highly respected, community-supported tool for clarifying adversary TTPs<\/span>. Pairing the two together provides a helpful view for organisations to understand their readiness against today\u2019s threats in a familiar vocabulary that enables easy communication to their stakeholders.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Keumars Afifi-Sabet<\/p>\n

1 Jul, 2021 <\/p>\n

Microsoft has struck\u00a0agreements with US networking giant AT&T and the cyber security organisation MITRE to bring additional 5G support as well as threat monitoring capabilities to Azur…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":433,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/433"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42239"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42240,"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42239\/revisions\/42240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}