VMware vDefend

We are pleased to announce the General Availability of VMware vDefend for VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.1. AI-driven attacks are exponentially increasing the attack surface. This shift is driving the need to secure private cloud applications spanning across VMs and Kubernetes workloads efficiently and consistently. We are excited to share our new vDefend 9.1 innovations. These new capabilities further strengthen lateral security and make it easier to protect modern, high-capacity workloads. vDefend also provides security architecture for agentic AI workloads. Here's a quick summary of the new features:  Self-Service Lateral Security with VCF Automation: This capability allows infrastructure and security teams to set guardrails using predefined VPC security profiles, enabling faster application onboarding and maintaining a consistent security baseline across tenants. Unified Lateral Threat Prevention for VMs and VKS Workloads: VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS) clusters can now be inspected and protected by the same high-performance distributed IDS/IPS that currently secures VMs.  High-Performance Lateral Threat Prevention: The new IDPS Turbo Mode delivers up to 3x throughput, increasing from 3 Gbps up to 9 Gbps per host and up to 9 Tbps per VCF domain, protecting high-capacity workloads. Enhanced Distributed Firewall Capabilities: An up to 5x increase in Application Identification support for greater L7 visibility and simpler, granular security enforcement. Additionally, identity-based firewalling now supports a federated (multi-site) environment for consistent, simplified policy enforcement. For more details on this release, read the announcement blog, refer to the release notes, and register for our vDefend Webinar Series. Resource links: Webinar 1: (available now on demand): Unifying Lateral Security for VMs and Containers with VKS & vDefend  Webinar 2:  May 21, 2026 8am PDT What’s New in vDefend for VCF 9.1 Webinar 3:  June 18, 2026 8am PDT How to Deploy vDefend with VCF Automation for VCF 9.1  Blog: VMware vDefend: Zero Trust Lateral Security for Kubernetes Workloads on VCF Blog: Enhance Lateral Security and Ingress Load Balancing for Kubernetes Workloads vDefend Software Download vDefend YouTube Channel vDefend Community Discussions