Content delivery network and cloud services provider Akamai Technologies Inc. today announced two significant updates aimed at increasing cloud security and enhancing application performance.

The first announcement today is the extension of Akamai Guardicore Segmentation to Amazon Web Services Inc. Akamai Guardicore Segmentation is a service that provides microsegmentation capabilities that isolate and protect critical applications and workloads by preventing lateral movement of threats within both cloud and on-premises environments.

Guardicore Segmentation now offers seamless microsegmentation for multicloud and on-premises environments, with newly added agentless support for platform-as-a-service resources on Azure and AWS.

The service offers key benefits for cloud environments by enabling agentless cloud-native visibility and enforcement. Administrators can visualize workloads through an interactive, near-real-time map of network flows to help better understand application dependencies. The visibility offered assists in unifying DevOps and SecOps teams by streamlining cloud security governance and improving overall protection.

The solution’s hybrid enforcement engine allows organizations to define network policy intent while the policy engine automatically manages enforcement across data centers using multiple enforcement points. Additionally, integrated reputation analysis and DNS firewall capabilities in the offering help reduce detection and response times during a breach.

Built with scalability in mind, Akamai Guardicore Segmentation ensures that data remains securely within cloud environments while automatically adjusting to meet growing demand.

The second announcement today sees Akamai introduce new features to its zero-trust network access or ZTNA solution Enterprise Application Access to optimize application performance. Zero trust is an increasingly popular security strategy that assumes no one can be trusted and so requires constant controls over who gets access to what information.

Leveraging Akamai’s global edge infrastructure, the updated solution now integrates edge transport optimization capabilities to ensure that application data flows more efficiently for users, irrespective of their location. The enhancement is designed to improve the speed and responsiveness of critical business applications, particularly in remote or hybrid work environments.

A key feature of the update is the addition of local points of presence, which allow organizations to enforce ZTNA policies closer to where users and applications are based. By routing traffic through local points of presence rather than centralized cloud points, Akamai can reduce latency and improve download speeds by up to two to three times. The result ensures that users accessing files or applications from corporate networks experience faster performance without the need for additional hardware or complex software deployments, the company says.

The new features also address common user frustrations related to slow application access that can lead to increased information technology department support calls. Enterprise Application Access embeds performance optimization directly into the application path to assist organizations in delivering a smoother, more reliable user experience. The focus on reducing access times and improving application reliability aligns with Akamai’s ongoing commitment to supporting zero-trust strategies while enhancing productivity for global workforces.

“With Enterprise Application Access, we’re leveraging Akamai Connected Cloud to provide a fast, seamless experience for users, ensuring access to the applications and services they need,” Ofer Wolf, senior vice president and general manager of Enterprise Security at Akamai, said in a statement. “Slow applications lead to user frustration and increased IT support calls. With our solution, we’re helping eliminate that frustration.”

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