Dive Brief:

• Microsoft announced Thursday that Azure Security Center is now generally available.
• The tool is designed to help enterprises better manage cloud security policies and monitored configurations, Microsoft said in its announcement. The company said the product’s speed in detecting security incidents can help reduce both response times and costs.
• On average, it takes more than 200 days for an organization to detect a breach, Sarah Fender, principal program manager, Azure Cybersecurity, wrote in a blog. Fender said that during its preview period, Azure Security Center used advanced analytics and Microsoft’s global threat intelligence to detect more than 140,000 threats per month.
   

Dive Insight:

Azure Security Center includes security solutions from Barracuda, Check Point, F5, Fortinet, Imperva, and Trend Micro, and Fender said solutions from Cisco and Qualys will be added soon.

"The ecosystem will continue to grow, because we know our customers employ a wide variety of security tools to protect their infrastructure," said Fender.

Last month, the Ponemon Institute and IBM revealed that expenses related to a data breach now cost U.S. companies an average of $7 million.

Microsoft has been on a roll with Azure. On Tuesday, Microsoft’s Q4 earnings report revealed that the company’s overall cloud business, including its Azure cloud platform and server software, rose 7% year over year in the fourth quarter to $6.7 billion. Azure saw revenue more than double in the quarter, growing 102% year over year.