Radware's Alteon Protect brings cloud-scale ADC security

Radware has launched Alteon Protect, a security add-on for its Alteon application delivery controller (ADC) line that links on-device controls with Radware's cloud security platform.

The product targets organisations running web applications and APIs across a mix of on-premises infrastructure and public cloud. Radware positions it as a way to extend application security without sending traffic through new network paths or expanding appliance capacity.

Hybrid enforcement

Alteon Protect separates detection in the cloud from enforcement on the customer's Alteon device. The cloud layer provides real-time protection engines and detection algorithms, while the ADC applies protections locally with low latency.

Radware describes the design as a response to rising attack volumes against web applications and APIs, including application-layer distributed denial of service (DDoS) activity, automated bot traffic and abuse of API endpoints.

Alteon Protect detects and mitigates layer 7 Web DDoS attacks, API abuse, bot attacks and web application threats in real time. Enforcement occurs on the device, which Radware says avoids sharing SSL certificates with the cloud.

ADCs sit in front of applications and manage functions such as load balancing, traffic steering and SSL termination. Many organisations also use ADCs as a control point for web application firewalls and related policies. Radware's move reflects a wider vendor push to shift more security inspection and analytics into cloud platforms while keeping traffic processing close to applications.

Deployment options

Alteon Protect supports direct enterprise deployments and managed services. Radware, service providers and managed security service providers can deliver it in self-managed or fully managed models.

Customers can deploy protection across on-premises and cloud environments either directly or through a service provider. This aligns with how many organisations consume security services, especially when teams want centralised policy management and continuous updates without adding infrastructure.

Radware also expects the offering to appeal to two buyer groups. For enterprises, it is positioned as a way to add cloud-based security functions without replacing existing ADC deployments. For managed service providers and telecom operators, the architecture is designed to support multi-tenant delivery.

Licensing model

Scaling is tied to Radware's Global Elastic Licensing model, which the company says allows security capacity to increase with demand. Pricing details were not provided.

Radware also says it has programmes for existing and new customers to reduce barriers to evaluation and speed deployment, but did not outline specific commercial terms or eligibility.

Market context

Security teams have spent recent years adapting controls built for traditional web apps to API-first development, microservices and heavy use of encryption. The shift has increased focus on application-layer threats, including credential stuffing, business logic abuse and attempts to overwhelm applications with high-rate requests that do not resemble volumetric DDoS attacks.

At the same time, many organisations have tried to limit how far they push decrypted traffic into third-party platforms. Operational constraints around certificate handling and key management have also shaped architecture decisions. Radware positions Alteon Protect in this context by keeping enforcement on the ADC while using cloud systems for analysis and updates.

Gabi Malka, Chief Operating Officer at Radware, said the company sees a trade-off in many deployments between performance, protection and cost.

"Organisations shouldn't have to choose between performance, protection, and cost," Malka said. "Alteon Protect modernizes the ADC security model by integrating cloud-augmented WAF, layer 7 Web DDoS, bot, and API protection with low-latency, on-device enforcement. This is designed to provide customers continuous, cloud-scale security while preserving their existing investments."

Radware says Alteon Protect is part of a broader AI-driven cloud security platform. The company sells application security and delivery products for cloud and on-premises environments, focused on protecting web applications, APIs and network infrastructure from threats including DDoS and automated bot activity.

Alteon Protect is available for enterprise deployments and through service provider and MSSP channels, pairing cloud-based detection with enforcement on Alteon devices.