Microsoft invests in data management vendor Rubrik to address ransomware threat

Rubrik claims extended partnership will provide Microsoft’s customers and partners with “additional data protection”

Microsoft has taken an equity investment in data management and backup vendor Rubrik as part of a deeper partnership between the two which is aimed at addressing the "exponential" rise in ransomware attacks.

The "strategic agreement" will include "go to market activities" and "co-engineered projects" which will see Rubrik's zero trust protection solutions delivered in Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365.

Rubrik, which offers solutions such as ransomware protection, risk compliance and automated data recovery, claims the partnership will address the "rising customer need" to protect against ransomware threats, with big tech companies like Kaseya and Accenture recently being targeted by cyber-attacks.

"Customers, across industries, are migrating to the cloud to drive business transformation and realize growth," Nick Parker, corporate vice president, Global Partner Solutions at Microsoft, said.

"End-to-end application and data management is critical to business success, and we believe that integrating Rubrik's zero trust data management solutions with Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365 will make it easy for customers to advance their zero trust journey and increase their digital resilience."

The partnership will provide Microsoft's customers and partners with "additional data protection" by ensuring that Microsoft 365 data is "secure, easily discoverable, and always accessible" in the case of an attack, accidental deletion or corruption, Rubrik says.

It builds on Rubrik and Microsoft's existing relationship, which supports more than 2,000 mutual customers globally.

"Together with Microsoft, we are delivering tightly integrated data protection while accelerating and simplifying our customer's journey to the cloud," said Bipul Sinha, co-founder and CEO of Rubrik.