Broadcom unveils VMware vDefend security enhancements
Broadcom has introduced updates to VMware vDefend, aimed at enhancing security planning and operations in VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) environments.
The enhancements to VMware vDefend are designed to aid organisations in better planning and assessing security while simplifying lifecycle management and operations across application environments. Umesh Mahajan, Vice President and General Manager of the Application Networking and Security Division at Broadcom, stated, "Organisations often navigate thousands of applications to power their business. This complexity makes it difficult to maintain visibility and lateral security across all applications. VMware vDefend simplifies how organisations achieve zero trust and private cloud security goals by cutting through complexity and providing a comprehensive lateral security implementation. The latest vDefend innovations further this efficiency by offering real-time security assessments, a next-generation security services platform to simplify operations, and micro-segmentation as code to further improve security operations."
VMware vDefend's integration of a Security Segmentation Assessment and Report in its Security Intelligence tool is a central feature of the new updates. This tool offers real-time assessments of security segmentation for zero trust private cloud initiatives, complete with policy suggestions to close potential security gaps. This development aims to expedite lateral security protection across all organisational applications.
Among the innovative features is the Security Services Platform (SSP), providing simplified deployment of security tools such as Network Detection and Response and Malware Prevention. The SSP, now with an advanced architecture, promises improved life cycle management, tailored user profiles for security administrators, and heightened threat prevention across large-scale VCF deployments.
A notable aspect of the vDefend update is the Micro-segmentation as Code, which is integrated into applications during deployment. This feature offers a streamlined, API-driven model for lateral security, allowing seamless scaling of security measures across both virtual machines and containers.
The update also includes enhancements to Network Detection and Response (NDR) capabilities suited for air-gapped environments. This aims to ensure threat intelligence is securely updated and correlated within closed networks, signalising increased security without external network access, which is crucial for compliance in high-security or classified environments.
Furthermore, VMware Validated Solutions provides a prescriptive guide for rapid implementation of zero trust security for both VCF management components and application workloads.
According to third-party research, VMware vDefend received an AAA rating in the SE Labs Advanced Security Test Report for its Advanced Threat Prevention capabilities. The report highlighted vDefend's performance against complex multi-staged ransomware threats, representing the highest level of threat detection capabilities.
Additionally, a commissioned Total Economic Impact study by Forrester Consulting revealed VMware vDefend facilitated a 40% reduction in cyber breach risk, 25% reduction in security operations expenses, and avoidance of a 12% rise in cyber insurance premiums, alongside a 116% return on investment for a composite organisation.
Sarita Akula, Senior Manager, Infrastructure Platforms at University of Arts, London, remarked on the integration, saying, "Deep application-level visibility and micro-segmentation for a zero trust private cloud is critical for us. In a very short time, we enabled Security Intelligence's application analytics with SSP, successfully segmented certain critical applications, and laid the groundwork for enabling advanced threat detection and prevention capabilities of vDefend."
Tyler Wertenbruch, IT Technical Manager at St. John's Health, noted, "vDefend has been a critical technology in our journey to Zero Trust security for health care applications. With vDefend's micro-segmentation-as-code capabilities, we were able to apply lateral security during the application on-boarding process, enabling us to ensure that security remains up to date and maintain a strong Zero Trust posture. We are looking forward to leveraging Security Intelligence's enhancements for deeper visibility and assessment of our application environment."
Michael Law, Managing Consultant Engineer at CDW, commented, "VMware vDefend's Security Intelligence hosted on the enhanced Security Services Platform has become a critical tool for quickly securing our customers' business applications. These vDefend enhancements for lateral security are unmatched in the industry."
