with-security-copilot,-microsoft-brings-the-power-of-ai-to-cyberdefense

With Security Copilot, Microsoft brings the power of AI to cyberdefense

 

Microsoft Corp. announced it is bringing the next generation of AI to cybersecurity with the launch of Microsoft Security Copilot, giving defenders a much-needed tool to quickly detect and respond to threats and better understand the threat landscape overall. Security Copilot will combine Microsoft’s vast threat intelligence footprint with industry-leading expertise to augment the work of security professionals through an easy-to-use AI assistant.

“Today the odds remain stacked against cybersecurity professionals. Too often, they fight an asymmetric battle against relentless and sophisticated attackers,” said Vasu Jakkal, corporate vice president, Microsoft Security. “With Security Copilot, we are shifting the balance of power into our favor. Security Copilot is the first and only generative AI security product enabling defenders to move at the speed and scale of AI.”

Security Copilot is designed to work seamlessly with security teams, empowering defenders to see what is happening in their environment, learn from existing intelligence, correlate threat activity, and make more informed, efficient decisions at machine speed.

Simplifying complexity and accelerating responses

In a world where there are 1,287 password attacks per second, fragmented tools and infrastructure have not been enough to stop attackers. And although attacks have increased 67% over the past five years, the security industry has not been able to hire enough cyber risk professionals to keep pace. This has led to defenders who are overwhelmed searching for well-disguised attacks within an impossibly large volume of expanding network traffic and other signals.

Security Copilot will simplify complexity and amplify the capabilities of security teams by summarizing and making sense of threat intelligence, helping defenders see through the noise of web traffic and identify malicious activity.

It will also help security teams catch what others miss by correlating and summarizing data on attacks, prioritizing incidents and recommending the best course of action to swiftly remediate diverse threats, in time.

Continually learning to augment the expertise of security teams

Security Copilot will also continually learn and improve to help ensure that security teams are operating with the latest knowledge of attackers, their tactics, techniques and procedures. The product will provide ongoing access to the most advanced OpenAI models to support demanding security tasks and applications. Its visibility into threats is powered by both the customer organization’s security data and Microsoft’s vast threat analysis footprint.

These capabilities can empower security teams of any size with the skills and abilities of much larger organizations. In addition, Security Copilot helps address skills shortages in cybersecurity by bridging knowledge gaps and enhancing workflows, threat actor profiles and incident reporting across teams.

“Advancing the state of security requires both people and technology — human ingenuity paired with the most advanced tools that help apply human expertise at speed and scale,” said Charlie Bell, executive vice president, Microsoft Security. “With Security Copilot we are building a future where every defender is empowered with the tools and technologies necessary to make the world a safer place.”

Built on the Microsoft platform and industry-leading threat intelligence

Microsoft is uniquely qualified to help customers explore and adapt AI to boost their cybersecurity defenses. Microsoft Security is actively tracking more than 50 ransomware gangs as well as more than 250 unique nation-state cybercriminal organizations, and receives 65 trillion threat signals every day. Microsoft technology blocks more than 25 billion brute-forced password theft attempts every second, and more than 8,000 security professionals at Microsoft analyze more security signals than almost any other company — on average Microsoft’s Security Operations Center analysts utilize over 100 different data sources.

Acquisitions like RiskIQ and Miburo give Microsoft breath of signal and depth intelligence on threat actors that no one else has. Security Copilot also integrates natively with a growing list of Microsoft Security products, such as Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft Defender, to help customers create an end-to-end experience across their entire security program.

new-partnership-brings-microsoft-teams-to-cisco-meeting-room-devices

New partnership brings Microsoft Teams to Cisco meeting room devices

 

Cisco and Microsoft Corp. Wednesday announced at Microsoft’s annual Ignite conference a new partnership that will provide customers with more choice. In the first half of 2023, Cisco and Microsoft will soon offer the ability to run Microsoft Teams natively on Cisco Room and Desk devices Certified for Microsoft Teams, with the option of Teams as the default experience. Cisco will become a partner in the Certified for Microsoft Teams program for the first time.

“Interoperability has always been at the forefront of our hybrid work strategy, understanding that customers want collaboration to happen on their terms — regardless of device or meeting platform,” said Jeetu Patel, EVP and GM, Security & Collaboration, Cisco. “Our partnership with Microsoft brings together two collaboration leaders to completely reimagine the hybrid work experience.”

“Our vision to make Teams the best collaboration experience for physical spaces is brought to life by our incredible ecosystem of hardware partners,” said Jeff Teper, president, collaborative apps and platforms at Microsoft. “By welcoming Cisco as our newest partner building devices Certified for Microsoft Teams, we are excited to bring leading collaboration hardware and software to market together for our joint customers.”

Initially, six of Cisco’s most popular meeting devices and three peripherals will be certified for Teams, with more to come. The first wave of devices, expected to be certified by early 2023, will include the Cisco Room Bar, the Cisco Board Pro 55-inch and 75-inch, and the Cisco Room Kit Pro for small, medium and large meeting room spaces, respectively. The Cisco Desk Pro and Cisco Room Navigator will follow. Customers will have the option to make Microsoft Teams Rooms the default experiences, and the devices will continue to support joining Webex meetings with all the features and functionality customers enjoy today. The first peripheral — the Cisco Desk Camera 4K — is an intelligent USB webcam and will be available by the end of October 2022, followed by two headphones with a Teams button by early 2023.

Microsoft Teams customers will enjoy the digital workplace where they connect and collaborate with teammates, partners and customers, combined with Cisco’s high-quality, reliable video technology with powerful camera intelligence and noise removal technologies that enable inclusive and collaborative meeting experiences. All certified devices will be manageable in the Teams Admin Center and the new Teams Rooms Pro Management Portal, as well as through the Cisco Control Hub device management.

microsoft-announces-viva-sales,-redefining-the-seller-experience-and-enhancing-productivity

Microsoft announces Viva Sales, redefining the seller experience and enhancing productivity

 

On Thursday, Microsoft Corp. announced Microsoft Viva Sales, a new seller experience application. Viva Sales enriches any CRM system with customer engagement data from Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams, and leverages AI to provide personalized recommendations and insights for sellers to be more connected with their customers. This helps sellers more seamlessly personalize their customer engagements toward faster deal closure.

Employees are demanding more from their employers in today’s hybrid world — from the tools they use, to the hours and locations they work. This is especially true for salespeople. Viva Sales enables sellers to capture insights from across Microsoft 365 and Teams, eliminate manual data entry, and receive AI-driven recommendations and reminders — all the while staying in the flow of work. Viva Sales streamlines the seller experience by surfacing the insights with the right context within tools salespeople already use, saving sellers time and providing the organization with a more complete view of the customer.

“The future of selling isn’t a new system. It’s bringing the information sellers need at the right time, with the right context, into the tools they know, so their work experience can be streamlined,” said Judson Althoff, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Microsoft. “Empowering sellers to spend more time with their customers has been our goal — and we’ve done that by reimagining the selling experience with Viva Sales.”

“Sellers rely on digital collaboration and productivity tools to connect with customers and close deals, but a lot of the insights they uncover with these tools don’t make it into the CRM,” said Paul Greenberg, founder and managing principal, The 56 Group. “Microsoft is taking on this challenge by offering a solution that complements the CRM. Viva Sales automates the busy work, captures critical information about the customer and helps sellers get the job done.”

Reimagining the seller experience

Viva Sales builds on Microsoft Viva, which was launched last year. Viva provides an integrated employee experience platform that brings together communications, knowledge, learning, goals and insights to empower every person and team to be their best from anywhere. Viva Sales delivers the first role-based Viva application designed specifically for sellers:

  • Viva Sales provides tools for sellers to do their jobs, while providing the insights that sales leadership needs. As sellers are working, they can tag customers in Outlook, Teams or Office applications like Excel, and Viva Sales will automatically capture it as a customer record, layered with all relevant data about the customer. Being able to automatically capture this level of customer engagement data was not available previously. This data can easily be shared with team members while collaborating in Office and Teams without retyping or looking it up in a CRM.
  • Powered by data and AI, Viva Sales recommends next steps to progress a customer through the sales funnel, prioritizes work and next steps, and enables sellers to access full history and customer interaction materials. Real-time customer insights provide a deeper understanding of where each customer is in their purchase journey, and how to guide the relationship.
  • Viva Sales also provides AI-driven recommendations to enable sellers to enhance their customer engagement — optimizing follow-through with next best steps, actionable reminders, and recommendations to accelerate and close more sales. Viva Sales is using Context IQ, announced last fall, to ensure relevant content is connected across Microsoft apps and services — like Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365 — so sellers save time and stay in the flow of work.

With Viva Sales, we are creating a new category of application addressing the selling experience. Microsoft is uniquely positioned to offer this type of application within the productivity and collaboration apps employees are already using.

To learn more, visit the Official Microsoft Blog and the Microsoft Dynamics 365 blog.

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

SOURCE Microsoft Corp.

microsoft-powers-the-future-of-mobility-–-unveils-the-latest-cloud-&-iot-innovations-for-electric-vehicles-in-taiwan

Microsoft powers the future of mobility – Unveils the latest cloud & IoT innovations for electric vehicles in Taiwan

 

Microsoft unveils the latest cloud and IoT innovative technology at the inaugural 2035 E-Mobility Taiwan Exhibition on Wednesday October 20th, 2021, further unlocking potential of cloud computing for smart mobility industry. The latest reveal highlights Microsoft’s partnership with MIH Consortium (MIH), global manufacturing leader Foxconn’s electric vehicle (EV) software and hardware open platform. Leveraging the power of Microsoft’s cloud service Azure, the partnership delivers secure and innovative cloud-native solutions, accelerates the transformation of automobile industry, while reduces carbon emission for the planet.

Microsoft’s latest innovative cloud computing supports MIH Marketplace’s in four major categories – V2G (vehicle to grid) in support of energy management, pipeline management, dataset management, and in dashboard service – Driver Viewer. Azure IoT Central enables enterprises to collect real-time images, optimizing performance, and improving development agility and efficiency with machine learning modules, container registry, and DevOps.

Jack Cheng, Chief Executive Officer of MIH said, “In the next generation of mobility, user-centricity is key. To enable developers to innovate and create great user experience and applications, we must work towards a Software-Defined Vehicles future by realizing the Open EV Platform vision. The MIH partnership with Microsoft Azure is a great example of connecting and enabling players in the ecosystem to launch new applications and accelerate innovation.”

The automotive industry has shifted from individual hardware manufacturing to software solutions collaboration, critically for electric vehicles. Cathy Yeh, Principal PM Group Manager at Industry Clouds and Solutions, Microsoft Corp, commented on the significance of the partnership for the industry, “As the global energy industry steps into a new era of digital transformation, Microsoft has partnered with Taiwan Power Company and YES Energy Service Co., LTD to bring Vehicle to Grid (V2G) solutions on the MIH EV Open Platform, allowing electric vehicle to be part of ancillary services for grid stabilization, creating a new milestone for smart mobility industry. Microsoft will continue to support MIH and its ecosystem development with cloud-based solutions to unlock new innovations for a booming EV industry.

With smart mobility industry growing at rapid pace, it is imperative to closely manage, monitor, and optimize grid stability, energy supply, and charging sessions to maximize efficiency. Chong-liang Chang, Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) added, “The exponential growth of the electric vehicle industry presents both a challenge and an opportunity in Taiwan for power consumption and distribution. Taipower is thrilled to collaborate with MIH and Microsoft on innovative applications in V2G, allowing services for electric vehicles to be agile and user-centric. Leveraging Taipower’s energy trading platform, together we are working towards a vision for Taiwan’s carbon neutrality and industry electrification.

Cybersecurity is an integral part of the electric vehicle ecosystem. Microsoft Azure provides multi-layered, built-in security controls and threat intelligence to protect drivers, and passengers’ personal data. Azure Active Directory is an identity service that manages and secures identities during each of electric vehicle’s development phase. Azure’s high-performance computing (HPC) enables MIH to build algorithms and simulation-driven Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS), enabling digital transformation of the ecosystem research & development and collaboration among consortium members.

William Wei, Chief Technology Officer of MIH said, “Microsoft Azure empowers MIH to accelerate the development of Open EV Platform. Its flexibility and cloud services provide stable development environment to enable cloud-based automotive software ecosystem and global deployment of applications to Software-Defined Vehicles (SDV) in the future.”

Sustainability is a shared priority for Microsoft and MIH. The partnership allows the ecosystem to transform mobility industry to create a safer, and cleaner planet for all. Sean Pien, Enterprise Commercial Lead of Microsoft Taiwan reiterated the company’s commitment to sustainability, “To achieve our goal of carbon negative by 2030, Microsoft continues to collaborate with ecosystem partners to fulfill our sustainability commitment. Microsoft’s cloud solutions for the EV industry will drive sustainability development for a greener future.”

SOURCE Microsoft Taiwan