Cyber technology shares soar as security attacks pile up

Shares in cyber security companies climbed rapidly on Friday as investors bet that a spate of cyber attack disclosures from entities such as Microsoft Corp would boost demand for security technology.

Shares in FireEye Inc, Palo Alto Networks and Crowdstrike Holdings all raced ahead after Microsoft said on Thursday that it found malicious software in its systems related to a massive hacking campaign disclosed by U.S. officials this week, adding the software giant to a growing list of attacked government agencies.

Microsoft is a user of Orion, the widely deployed networking management software from SolarWinds Corp which was used in the suspected Russian attacks on vital U.S. agencies and others.