In recent weeks, Broadcom Inc. has deployed enhancements for VMware vDefend to strengthen integrated security and scale protection across application environments that have become significantly more complicated with expanded adoption of AI. The latest solutions were designed to make life easier for security practitioners and DevOps staff in dealing with a rising tide of advanced threats.

“We have invested over the years in advanced threat protection,” said Umesh Mahajan (pictured, right), vice president and general manager, application networking and security division at Broadcom. “With our security layer, we’ve made it easy for the DevOps people. Now they can turn things on fast and they will work.”

Mahajan spoke with theCUBE’s Dave Vellante at the RSAC 2025 Conference, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. He was joined by Prashant Gandhi (left), vice president of products, Application Networking & Security Division, at Broadcom, and they discussed vDefend’s role in facilitating key priorities for both developers and security teams. (* Disclosure below.)

Real-time insight for integrated security

A key element of the enhancements for vDefend involved the addition of a Security Segmentation Assessment and Report for vDefend’s intelligence tool. By offering real-time insight into security segmentation status, users can gain visibility into the interaction between applications and identify security issues.

“You need visibility, if you can’t see it, you can’t secure it,” Gandhi said. “You want a plug-and-play environment to deploy security effectively. We are hypervisor integrated, that’s a fundamental value that it provides. This is an entire chain of security capabilities that are all built-in.”

The ability to assess network traffic and provide operational insight enables organizations to deploy lateral security through the vDefend Distributed Firewall across applications. The intent is to provide both developers and security teams with capabilities that won’t bog down critical work because of slow-moving firewall protocols.

“With an integrated stack, it you detect something the rules get pushed into the lower part of the firewall,” Mahajan explained. “Developers want to make changes and update code all the time. We can give them firewall rule recommendations … and guide them through all the steps.”

Micro-segmentation as code was also added to the vDefend security services platform. This function is applicable to each workload through an API-driven model, with connections to various automation tools. The end result is greater user satisfaction on the part of both developers and security teams, according to Gandhi.

“Micro-segmentation gets deployed at the speed of the application,” he said. “We offer micro-segmentation-as-code so both teams are happy.”

The updates for vDefend come on the heels of additional capabilities that Broadcom announced in November that were designed to strengthen security for east-west traffic and optimize performance in datacenter and Kubernetes environments. The ability to easily deploy security firewalls in a variety of IT environments can meet the needs of developers who value speed and simplicity, according to Mahajan.

“In our model you spin up these security firewalls wherever you want them, in whichever host,” he said. “Developers can programmatically put it in their tool chain. It’s optimal usage and quick set up. With Kubernetes you absolutely need that.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the RSAC 2025 Conference event:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the RSAC 2025 Conference. The sponsors of theCUBE’s event coverage do not have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE