AttackIQ announced the company is working with VMware to enable VMware NSX customers to improve the way they validate the efficacy of their network security controls. Using the AttackIQ Security Optimization Platform with the MITRE ATT&CK framework, mutual customers can now leverage the power of automation to continually emulate realistic attacks and prove that controls are working as expected to help protect them from breaches and attacks.

"As we have seen from supply-chain and ransomware intrusions, organizations need to assume breach and adopt advanced security capabilities to prevent successful attacks," said Carl Wright, AttackIQ Chief Commercial Officer. "VMware is one of the world's leading security providers, and we are excited to work with the VMware team to elevate our mutual customers' security program performance."

"While traditional penetration testing and red teaming can provide useful insights into security control effectiveness, their infrequent scheduling and limited scope fail to provide holistic, up-to-the-minute data during security proof of values," said Chad Skipper, Global Security Technologist at VMware. "AttackIQ will enable VMware NSX customers to proactively validate NSX Advanced Threat Prevention controls against emulated adversary behaviors, with the end result being increased confidence in their cybersecurity performance."

AttackIQ conducts automated security testing to improve program performance

AttackIQ operates under the "assume breach" mindset, recognizing that it is not a question of if but when an intruder will break past an organization's perimeter defense. Aligned to the MITRE ATT&CK framework, AttackIQ's Security Optimization platform contains a deep library of adversary emulation scenarios to emulate post-breach adversary behaviors and continuously validate an organization's defenses. The Security Optimization Platform tests and validates security controls continuously, safely, at scale and in production.

By combining AttackIQ with VMware NSX, teams can gain comprehensive, data-driven control over their security program through continuous testing. With clear performance data generated from AttackIQ's automated testing capabilities, security teams identify program challenges, adjust their security program operations, and make data-informed decisions about their security investments. The outcome is that the organization's security controls work as intended, resources are aligned to address the most important threats, and the organization maximizes its return on investment.

VMware simplifies network security by leveraging the infrastructure to protect apps and data from endpoint to cloud. By virtualizing the network security stack, companies gain better protection that is built into the infrastructure to help mitigate risks and enable compliance, lower costs, and simplify operations. The VMware NSX security family includes the VMware NSX Service-defined Firewall, a distributed, scale-out internal firewall purpose-built to protect east-west network traffic, and VMware NSX Advanced Threat Prevention for network detection and response capabilities with network traffic analysis, distributed IDS/IPS, and advanced malware analysis. These solutions provide deep visibility into network traffic regardless of whether it is north-south or east-west and are coupled with advanced machine learning techniques. As a result, cybersecurity teams can respond to advanced threats more quickly and effectively by providing high-fidelity alerts with a very low rate of false positives, plus visualize the entire attack chain.