Microsoft foils 1.5 million attacks on their cloud systems per day

If you look at Azure, Office 365, OneDrive or other online services such as Outlook.com or Xbox Live, it’s clear the cloud has become essential to everything Microsoft does. Microsoft is no longer the Windows and Office-centric company it once was, as the rise of cloud computing has completely changed our computing habits over the last 10 years.

Millions of consumers and business users use the Microsoft Cloud every day, and the company now has a huge responsibility to keep its cloud safe and secure for everyone. This is certainly not an easy task, as increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks are now targeting consumers who don’t necessarily know how to protect themselves against them.

“At any point in time on any day of the week, Microsoft’s cloud computing operations are under attack,” explained the company this week in a lengthy article detailing its security efforts. “The company detects a whopping 1.5 million attempts a day to compromise its systems.”

If this sounds a bit scary, Microsoft also learns a lot from all these threats: every second, the Redmond giant adds hundreds of gigabytes’ worth of telemetry to the Intelligent Security Graph, which protects all Azure, Office 365 and Windows 10 users in real time. Additionally, the company scans 400 billion emails for malware and phishing scams each month through Office 365 and Outlook.

Overall, Microsoft invests about $1 billion in cloud security each year, but the company made it clear that cybersecurity should be a coordinated effort: that’s why Microsoft’s Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith has recently called for a Digital Geneva Convention following the widespread WannaCrypt attack.

“There are a lot of pieces that need to come together for us to be successful in cybersecurity,” Smith said. “It requires strong action by technology companies. It requires strong affirmative action by customers and it also requires strong affirmative action by governments.” It remains to be seen if major tech companies and governments are ready to cooperate more to protect citizens from cyber attacks, but it’s good to know that Microsoft takes cybersecurity very seriously. You can learn more about the company’s efforts to protect both consumers and business by checking the feature post on Microsoft’s website.