Security Operations , Video , Web Application Firewalls (WAF)

Akamai CEO on How Guardicore Prevents the Spread of Malware

Tom Leighton Explains How Microsegmentation Protects Internal Applications and Data
Tom Leighton, co-founder and CEO, Akamai (Image: Akamai)

Akamai's late 2021 acquisition of Guardicore allowed the company to go beyond protecting public-facing web content and APIs into the deeper world of safeguarding internal applications and data, says CEO Tom Leighton.

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The $600 million deal allowed the Boston-area digital experience vendor to blend public-facing capabilities with newfound internal network security abilities and compete directly against microsegmentation firms such as Illumio.

Leighton is a long-standing champion of Guardicore's microsegmentation capabilities, calling them critical to blocking the spread of malware, ransomware or data exfiltration attacks and ensuring that organizations' private data is not compromised and revealed (see: Akamai, Cloudflare, Imperva Top App & API Defense Gartner MQ).

"Historically, I think microsegmentation had a really bad reputation because it was done in a way that wasn't very practical," Leighton says. "Guardicore has changed that by doing it in software. They built their own firewall capabilities to put in the agent. It works with legacy operating systems and totally changed the game."

In this video interview with Information Security Media Group, Leighton also discusses:

  • How Guardicore fits into Akamai's security portfolio in areas such as DDoS prevention;
  • How Akamai differentiated itself from competitors Cloudflare and Imperva;
  • Enhancements to Akamai's web application firewall and bot management tools.

Leighton co-founded Akamai in 1998 and served as its chief scientist until becoming CEO in 2013. During his time as CEO, Akamai's revenue has more than doubled while earnings per share have more than tripled, and annual revenue from Akamai's security business grew 25% year-over-year in 2021.


About the Author

Michael Novinson

Michael Novinson

Managing Editor, Business, ISMG

Novinson is responsible for covering the vendor and technology landscape. Prior to joining ISMG, he spent four and a half years covering all the major cybersecurity vendors at CRN, with a focus on their programs and offerings for IT service providers. He was recognized for his breaking news coverage of the August 2019 coordinated ransomware attack against local governments in Texas as well as for his continued reporting around the SolarWinds hack in late 2020 and early 2021.




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