7. Tom Gillis, VMware
VMware has added threat detection capability to its lineup. Called VMware Contexa, the technology discovers lateral network traffic. VMware claims that Contexa is more likely to discover lateral network traffic than current security information and event management (SIEM) and extended detection and response (XDR) solutions.
VMware Contexa is not a product; rather, it is analytics technology that monitors traditional virtual environments through VMware NSX and endpoints via VMware Workspace One and Carbon Black. For modern, cloud-native app environments, Contexa detects threats via VMware Tanzu. VMware is offering it at no additional cost.
Advances in silicon from AMD and Intel have resulted in 128 core servers, making it possible to run more than 100 VMs on physical host. Little of that traffic is actually analyzed.
Tom Gillis is senior VP and general manager of VMware’s Advanced Security Business Group. He made waves this week for explaining how Contexa works.
“By instrumenting the virtualization layer, we see every packet and every process,” he said. “And we understand them in context.”
Read more from Edward Gately’s reporting here.
