Akamai enhances Guardicore for AWS with agentless support

Akamai has announced the extension of its Guardicore Segmentation solution to support agentless enforcement for cloud native resources in Amazon Web Services (AWS), while also enhancing features of its Zero Trust Network Access product, Enterprise Application Access.

According to the Verizon 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report, nearly one-third (32%) of cybersecurity breaches involve ransomware or extortion, and ransomware is listed as a top threat in 92% of industries. These figures underline the pressing need for organisations to adopt a robust Zero Trust framework to counter these escalating threats.

Akamai's Guardicore Segmentation, now available for AWS, is designed to address challenges faced by organisations implementing public cloud strategies. These include issues related to visibility, security policy configuration across cloud providers, and governance between DevOps and SecOps teams.

The company highlighted several key benefits of its Guardicore Segmentation in the cloud setting. These include agentless cloud native visibility and enforcement, a hybrid enforcement engine leveraging multiple enforcement points, integrated reputation analysis and DNS firewall capabilities, and a scalable and secure solution architecture.

Ofer Wolf, Senior Vice President, General Manager, Enterprise Security at Akamai, commented on the expansion, "We're giving Akamai customers the visibility and security controls they need to protect their cloud environments – while ensuring a smooth single-pane-of-glass experience – by seamlessly delivering the applications and services users rely on. Whether our customers are on-prem, in the cloud, or leveraging IaaS or PaaS capabilities, we're making sure they can focus on growing their business and serving their customers, not stress about their Zero Trust journey."

In addition to the Guardicore Segmentation updates, Akamai also announced enhancements to its Enterprise Application Access to improve application performance and user experience. These updates utilise Akamai's global infrastructure to deliver secure and reliable application access for end-users.

Edge transport is one of the new features focused on embedding performance optimisation directly into the application path, ensuring fast and responsive user experiences regardless of the user's or application's location. This capability is especially beneficial in environments with degraded internet connectivity or for file transfers using the SMB protocol.

Another feature, the local point of presence (PoP), allows organisations to apply ZTNA policies locally for in-office users, significantly enhancing application speed by eliminating the need to route traffic to an Enterprise Application Access cloud PoP.

Wolf further explained the significance of these updates, stating, "Proximity matters when it comes to delivering Zero Trust Network Access that touches every employee in an organisation. With Enterprise Application Access, we're utilising Akamai Connected Cloud to help organisations deliver a fast and seamless experience for users that gives them access to the applications and services they need to do their jobs. Users expect business applications to start quickly and respond efficiently. Slow applications cause frustration and lead to an increase in IT support calls. With Enterprise Application Access, we're helping to eliminate that frustration."

These updates align with recommendations from Gartner's Hype Cycle for Zero-Trust Networking 2024, which noted that deploying ZTNA infrastructure close to application hosting locations helps organisations ensure fast and responsive applications, thereby providing a better end-user experience.