VMware introduces new security mechanisms to prevent attackers from moving sideways through the network.

At the RSA conference in San Francisco, VMware will present new security solutions designed to protect VMware customers from attacks. With the new functions, the software specialist focuses specifically on lateral movements by attackers. This makes it difficult for hackers who gain access to the infrastructure to move through the network unnoticed.

5 innovations

VMware brings five major innovations to market:

• The integration of DPU-based acceleration with SmartNICs. That should improve the performance of NSX.
• The VMware Carbon Black workload and cloud configuration that makes cloud-native architecture more secure.
• An advanced firewall that provides NSX security features for VMware SD-WAN appliances. This should provide more simplicity for operational teams.
• VMware Secure App IX will improve the security of application connection connections.
• VMware Workspace One receives updates that improve protection against phishing, improve patch management, and provide more secure access.

VMware clarifies that Secure Apps IX is intended to facilitate the regulation of data between the cloud and applications. This makes it easier for you to determine that an application only has access to one or two databases in the cloud and not to any other data. With the new solution, you no longer have to implement policies manually per application, but can work them out in advance and then assign them to the right apps.

SmartNIC

DPU and SmartNIC integration in NSX is not new. VMware launched a preview last year, but the functionality is also now generally available. The DPU can take over certain security-related tasks more efficiently from the processor. This eliminates the impact of these workloads on overall performance.

For Carbon Black, VMware makes it easy to scan cloud environments for potentially unsafe settings or misconfigurations for a hacker to exploit. VMware uses Contexa for this analysis.

VMware has not yet announced when the new features will be available.