--- title: VMware vDefend url: https://www.vmware.com/products/security/vdefend description: Comprehensive Zero Trust Lateral Security Solution for VMware Cloud Foundation. --- # VMware vDefend Implement comprehensive Zero Trust lateral security for all VMware Cloud Foundation workloads with a hypervisor-native, multi-layered defense. [View Data Sheet](https://www.vmware.com/docs/vmw-vdefend-ds) [Try Hands-On Lab](https://labs.hol.vmware.com/HOL/catalog/lab/27638) ## Multi-Layered Defense Against Modern Malware, Ransomware and AI-Driven Attacks Defend against modern, AI-driven cyberattacks with a hypervisor-native, software-defined security solution. Gain deep visibility into network and application activity, prevent unauthorized lateral movement and detect zero-day anomalies with real-time behavioral analytics, to mitigate threats before damage occurs. ### Comprehensive Zero Trust Lateral Security Gain workload-level visibility through all application flows and quickly achieve macro and microsegmentation for east-west traffic. Automatically create context-aware security policies to easily enable Zero Trust with the principle of least privilege for application workloads. ### Advanced Threat Detection and Prevention Deploy high-performance, distributed intrusion prevention to defend against modern threats. Inspect traffic to block emerging exploits, maintain regulatory compliance, and deliver virtual patching to protect vulnerable workloads. ### Application Agility with Security Enable scale-out security at application speed as your private cloud grows. Ensure applications maintain their security policies throughout their lifecycle, regardless of where they live or move. ### AI Assistant for VMware vDefend Empower your security team with a GenAI-powered assistant to accelerate firewall operations, visualize complex attack chains, and conduct rapid, multi-context threat investigations. ## Key Capabilities ![Distributed Architecture](https://www.vmware.com/media/blt8c9a8aaca0ffd4ac/blt04b4ea6f67dd4e7b/66a8a2e1cfbd23e0297d76b3/icon_Expandable_Security.svg) **Distributed Architecture** Protect every app with a hypervisor-native, distributed, scale-out L7 stateful firewall for VMs and VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS) while eliminating the cost and complexity of traffic hair-pinning and capacity constraints of hardware firewalls. **Plug-and-Play Deployment** Deploy and operate lateral security effortlessly through hypervisor-native, plug-and-play integration with VMware Cloud Foundation — all without changing your network. **Security Intelligence** Gain a comprehensive view of all workload activity and receive tailored security policy recommendations. **Dynamic Policy Orchestration** Define security policies once and ensure workloads automatically maintain their security policies throughout their entire lifecycles. **Intrusion Detection and Prevention System (IDPS)** Inspect network traffic at every hypervisor and workload with turbo-mode IDPS. Rapidly prevent malicious actors from exploiting software vulnerabilities and gaining access to critical systems and data. **Malware Detection and Prevention** Gain insight from machine learning, static, dynamic, and memory analysis to safeguard against highly evasive, zero-day malware. Hypervisor-level guest introspection offers deep visibility into file systems and processes. **Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)** Identify zero-day threats using behavior-based methods. Leverage ML models to detect anomalies indicating malicious activity. Reduce false positives, detect and contain advanced attacks earlier in the kill chain. **Multi-Context Network Detection and Response** Quickly triage threat campaigns by automatically correlating multi-context signals from IDPS, malware detection, and NTA into high-fidelity campaigns mapped to the MITRE ATT&CK framework. **AI Assistant** Empower security teams to streamline firewall operations while enabling SOC analysts to correlate complex detection signals and investigate multi-context threat campaigns through a unified, GenAI-assisted interface. [READ DATA SHEET](https://www.vmware.com/docs/vmw-vdefend-ds) ## Address Critical Security Use Cases - Zero Trust - Virtual Patching - Security Intelligence - Ransomware Prevention - Compliance ### Operationalize Zero Trust with Microsegmentation Micro-segment workloads with prescriptive workflows to achieve Zero Trust for your private cloud. Reduce the attack surface and isolate applications with contextual segmentation policies that restrict threat lateral movement. - WATCH THE VIDEO ### Guard Against AI-Discovered Exploits Quickly patch software vulnerabilities identified by AI models to reduce the risk of a potential breach and its spread. Inspect traffic flows with IDPS to ensure unpatched servers cannot be exploited by blocking malicious traffic. - WATCH THE VIDEO ### Get App Visibility and Rule Guidance Gain real-time application visibility and security posture with contextual application topology maps. Identify security gaps and get granular policy recommendations for private cloud segmentation. - [LEARN MORE](https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-security-load-balancing/vdefend/security-services-platform/5-2/security-intelligence.html) ### Rapidly Respond to Ransomware and Malware Detect and stop ransomware activity and lateral spread across the VCF environment. Protect critical workloads with a multi-layered defense of MPS, IDPS, and NTA to prevent advanced fileless and zero-day threats. - [LEARN MORE](https://blogs.vmware.com/security/2026/04/breaking-ransomware-kill-chain.html) ### Maintain Regulatory Compliance Simplify audits and quickly bring environments into compliance — PCI, HIPAA, NIST— by deploying a software-based distributed IDPS with minimal changes to your existing network. - [LEARN MORE](https://blogs.vmware.com/security/2026/06/validated-compliance-vmware-vdefend-conforms-with-nist-csf-hipaa-and-pci-dss.html) ## Case Studies ![Dubai Airport](https://www.vmware.com/media/blt8c9a8aaca0ffd4ac/blt1b9042686c3dde76/6a3bcfb095d6e1376b67a80d/www-logo-dubai-airport.png) "VMware Cloud Foundation and VMware vDefend form the bedrock of our virtualization strategy. They unify and streamline operations across our compute, storage, networking and security infrastructure." — Biju Hameed Kayal, Head of Technology Infrastructure Operations - [READ CASE STUDY](https://www.vmware.com/resources/customers/dubai-airports-elevates-its-private-cloud-with-vmware-cloud-foundation-and-vdefend) ![St. John's Health](https://www.vmware.com/media/blt8c9a8aaca0ffd4ac/blt076fc193f99bd6ec/67db65845baf48c6033b0daa/St_Johns_Health_Logo.jpg) "Visibility into all of our applications is one of the most important capabilities we can have. VMware vDefend products give us greater visibility into our workloads, allow us to troubleshoot issues quickly and help us make sure that we’re only allowing certain information to go where it’s needed to support patient care." — Tyler Wertenbruch, IT Technical Manager - [Read Case Study](https://www.vmware.com/resources/customers/st-johns-health-protects-private-cloud) ![USS FCU](https://www.vmware.com/media/blt8c9a8aaca0ffd4ac/blt87b9c3179a890e80/660d39ced072deed8a5c4358/vmw-ussfcu-logo.jpg) "The internal firewall and micro-segmentation capabilities of NSX Data Center enabled us to rapidly deliver on our CIO’s Zero Trust initiative." — Mark Fournier, Director of IT Infrastructure - [Read All Stories](https://www.vmware.com/resources/customers?products[]=VMware%20vDefend%20Distributed%20Firewall&products[]=VMware%20vDefend%20Advanced%20Threat%20Prevention&solutions[]=VMware%20Security%20and%20Resiliency) ## Related Products ### [VMware vDefend Advanced Threat Prevention](https://www.vmware.com/products/security/vdefend-advanced-threat-prevention) Protect VCF workloads with a comprehensive, multi-layer defense. ### [VMware Cloud Foundation](https://www.vmware.com/products/cloud-infrastructure/vmware-cloud-foundation) Deploy a software-defined data center with a fully-integrated stack. ## Resources ![VMware Security Blogs](https://www.vmware.com/media/blt8c9a8aaca0ffd4ac/blt0c5d4d604571318b/68147bbb733c4a849032c23d/vmw-icon-blue-blog-post.png) ### [VMware Security Blogs](https://blogs.vmware.com/security/) Read up on the latest topics related to network security. ### [Partners](https://www.broadcom.com/how-to-buy/partner-distributor-lookup) Use Partner Locator to quickly find a VMware partner near you. ### [Broadcom Inc. VMware vDefend Product Applicability Guide for PCI DSS 4.0.1](https://www.vmware.com/docs/broadcom-vmware-vdefend-product-applicability-guide-for-pci-dss) ### [Broadcom Inc. VMware vDefend Product Applicability Guide for NIST CSF 2.0](https://www.vmware.com/docs/WP_vDefend_CSF_2026) ### [Broadcom Inc. VMware vDefend Product Applicability Guide for HIPAA](https://www.vmware.com/docs/broadcom-vmware-vdefend-product-applicability-guide-for-hipaa) [SEE ALL RESOURCES](https://www.vmware.com/resources/resource-center?product[]=VMware%20vDefend&product[]=VMware%20vDefend%20Advanced%20Threat%20Prevention) ## FAQs ### How does vDefend work? VMware vDefend is a software-defined, lateral security solution that offers multi-layered defense to protect east-west traffic against ransomware, advanced malware and AI-driven threats. vDefend is purpose-built for VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) private cloud environment across all workloads (VM, Kubernetes, AI and bare metal servers). vDefend is hypervisor-embedded, offering a closed-loop security approach to rapidly deploy Zero Trust microsegmentation effectively. ### What are the key capabilities of vDefend? - Distributed architecture - Dynamic Policy Orchestration - Intrusion Detection and Prevention System - Plug-and-Play Deployment in VCF environments - Security Intelligence - Malware Detection and Prevention - Network Detection and Response (NDR) - Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) - AI Assistant ### What are the use cases for vDefend? Use cases for vDefend include: - Zero Trust - Guard against AI-driven threats - Get app visibility and rule guidance - Rapid response to ransomware and malware - Achieve regulatory compliance ### What are the benefits of vDefend? Benefits of vDefend include: - Multi-layer Lateral Security - Zero-day threat prevention - No network changes - Rapid Zero Trust deployment - AI Assistant ## Ready to Get Started? [CONTACT SALES](https://go-vmware.broadcom.com/contact-us) ## Also of Interest - [Infrastructure Security Solutions for VMware Cloud Foundation](https://www.vmware.com/solutions/security) - [VMware vDefend Advanced Threat Prevention](https://www.vmware.com/products/security/vdefend-advanced-threat-prevention) - [VMware vDefend Distributed Firewall | L7 Firewall](https://www.vmware.com/products/security/vdefend-distributed-firewall)