Microsoft adds Cloud security to keep out hackers – and government snoops

In its element: IBM is bringing its cloud technology to a partnership with The Weather Company.

Microsoft Corp, working with chipmaker Intel Corp, is offering a cloud-computing service with more powerful encryption to secure data from hackers – and protect it from secret government data-gathering. 

Called Azure confidential computing, the technology encrypts data while it is in use – which is when most security breaches occur, according to Azure chief technology officer Mark Russinovich. The new product works by placing customer information in a virtual enclave, essentially a black box that keeps anyone outside the customer – including Microsoft itself – from accessing the data. That can keep cyberthieves, malicious insiders and governments from getting in without customer authorization.