VMware Advances Intrinsic Security Strategy at Connect 2020 Announcing Intent to Acquire Octarine to Expand Workload Security Solution into Kubernetes and Creation of Next-Gen SOC Alliance

VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), a leading innovator in enterprise software, made two key announcements during Connect 2020, the company's annual cybersecurity user and partner conference (hosted virtually by VMware Carbon Black):

• The intent to acquire Octarine, whose innovative security platform for Kubernetes applications helps simplify DevSecOps and enables cloud native environments to be intrinsically secure, from development through runtime.
  
  
• The creation of a Next-Gen SOC Alliance along with Splunk, IBM Security, Google Cloud's Chronicle, Exabeam, and Sumo Logic. The alliance empowers SOC teams with visibility, prevention, detection and response capabilities that can uniquely leverage the VMware fabric.

Intent to Acquire Octarine to Bring Intrinsic Security to Containers & Kubernetes

Protecting workloads is critical to the security of applications and data inside every organization. The unique properties of the cloud (speed, agility, scale) mean that developers are increasingly using Kubernetes and containers to modernize applications and changing the nature of workloads that need to be secured.

As with any major technology adoption, attackers are not far behind, looking to take advantage of new risk areas. Building Octarine's innovative Kubernetes security platform into the VMware security portfolio presents a major opportunity for VMware to further mitigate risks in several ways:

• Provide full visibility into cloud-native environments so customers can better identify and reduce the risks posed by vulnerabilities and attacks.
• Move beyond static analysis and maintain compliance ? customers can create and enforce content-based policies to protect the privacy and integrity of sensitive and regulated information.
• Integrate into the developer lifecycle to analyze and control application risks before they are deployed into production.
• Run alongside service mesh frameworks such as Tanzu Service Mesh to provide native anomaly detection and threat monitoring for cloud and container-based workloads.
• Provide runtime monitoring and control of Kubernetes workloads across hybrid environments for threat detection and response.
  

Following the acquisition's close, the Octarine technology will be embedded into the VMware Carbon Black Cloud, providing new support of security features for containerized applications running in Kubernetes and enable security capabilities as part of the fabric of the existing IT and DevOps ecosystems. This innovation will further reduce the need for additional sensors in the stack. Octarine capabilities will also integrate and leverage the VMware Tanzu platform, including current investments in Service Mesh and Open Policy Agent.

"Acquiring Octarine will enable us to further expand VMware's intrinsic security strategy to containers and Kubernetes environments by embedding the Octarine technology into the VMware Carbon Black Cloud," said Patrick Morley, general manager and senior vice president, Security Business Unit, VMware. "This, combined with native integrations with Tanzu, vSphere, NSX and VMware Cloud Foundation, will create what we believe is a unique and compelling solution for intrinsically securing workloads. And, with the addition of our AppDefense capabilities merged into the platform, we can fundamentally transform how workloads are better secured."

VMware's intrinsic security strategy is centered on enriching context from across the security portfolio and leveraging the VMware fabric for native telemetry and control at the endpoint, workload, network, user access point, and application. This innovation enables a true XDR solution that works out of the box with existing VMware solutions ? reducing all the bolt-on sensors and appliances that plague security.

For more information on Octarine, click here.

VMware Launches Next-Gen SOC Alliance

In an effort to empower modern SOC teams with the capabilities and context they need to greatly improve both their efficiency and efficacy, VMware has launched a Next-Gen SOC Alliance.

The alliance features Splunk, IBM Security, Google Cloud's Chronicle, Exabeam, and Sumo Logic integrations with the VMware Carbon Black Cloud to deliver key XDR capabilities and context into SIEM technologies that power the modern-day SOC. Equally important, the combined solutions will be able to take advantage of VMware's Intrinsic Security framework and enable SOC teams to:

• Leverage the VMware fabric ? doing away with many of agents and appliances SOCs would normally deploy for visibility, prevention, detection, and response.
• Gain far richer context about the infrastructure and applications being protected.
• Operationalize more of security with (and through) IT via Carbon Black integrations with VMware management consoles.

Other key benefits from the Next-Gen SOC Alliance include:

• Centralized security context, which enables organizations to detect, analyze and respond to data in a unified SIEM at machine speed.
• Automation and orchestration tools that combine with XDR capabilities to allow SOCs to scale and standardize their investigation and response processes.
• Actionable answers to large-scale queries and remote remediation from within Splunk, IBM Security, Google Cloud's Chronicle, Exabeam, and Sumo Logic platforms.

"The Next-Gen SOC Alliance brings a critical mass of XDR context and capabilities to SOCs in a fully intrinsic way ? one that can uniquely leverage the VMware fabric," said Tom Barsi, Vice President of Alliances for VMware Carbon Black. "In partnership with the industry's leading SIEM/SOAR players, we're setting a strong vision for the modern SOC and delivering unprecedented visibility and remediation capabilities across endpoints, networks, workloads, and containers."

"Splunk's Security Operations Suite acts as the backbone for some of the most advanced SOCs in the world," said Haiyan Song, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Security Markets, Splunk. "As the security industry continues to embrace data at the center of their security strategy, it's more important than ever to combine the power of Splunk's industry-leading SIEM and SOAR solutions with XDR to fight back against increasingly sophisticated cyber actors. We are pleased to bring Splunk Enterprise Security and Splunk Phantom to this alliance with VMware Carbon Black and look forward to helping our mutual customers around the world solve their toughest security challenges with data."

About VMware

VMware software powers the world's complex digital infrastructure. The company's cloud, app modernization, networking, security, and digital workspace offerings help customers deliver any application on any cloud across any device. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, VMware is committed to being a force for good, from its breakthrough technology innovations to its global impact. For more information, please visit https://www.vmware.com/company.html.

Additional Resources

• Learn more about today's news and M&A strategy from Alex Wang, vice president, Corporate Development, VMware - "VMware Announces Intent to Acquire Octarine to Extend VMware's Intrinsic Security Capabilities for Containers and Kubernetes"
• Read about the intent to acquire from Patrick Morley, general manager and senior vice president, Security Business Unit, VMware - "Bringing Intrinsic Security to Containers: VMware Announces Intent to Acquire Octarine"

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements including, among other things, statements regarding VMware's intention to acquire Octarine, the expected benefits of the acquisition and the expected complementary nature and strategic advantages of combined offerings and opportunities after close. These forward-looking statements are subject to the safe harbor provisions created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk factors, including but not limited to: (i) the ability of the parties to satisfy closing conditions to the acquisition on a timely basis or at all; (ii) market conditions, regulatory requirements and other corporate considerations that could affect the timing and closing conditions to the acquisition; (iii) the ability to successfully integrate acquired companies and assets into VMware; (iv) VMware's customers' ability to transition to new products, platforms, services, solutions and computing strategies in such areas as containerization, modern applications, intrinsic security and networking, cloud, digital workspaces, virtualization and the software defined data center, and the uncertainty of their acceptance of emerging technology; (v) competitive factors, including but not limited to pricing pressures, industry consolidation, entry of new competitors into the virtualization software and cloud, end user and mobile computing, and security industries, as well as new product and marketing initiatives by VMware's competitors; (vi) VMware's ability to enter into and maintain strategically effective partnerships; (vii) rapid technological changes in the virtualization software and cloud, end user, security and mobile computing industries; (viii) other business effects, including those related to industry, market, economic, political, regulatory and global health conditions, such as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic; (ix) VMware's ability to protect its proprietary technology; (x) VMware's ability to attract and retain highly qualified employees; (xi) adverse changes in general economic or market conditions; (xii) changes in VMware's financial condition; and (xiii) VMware's relationship with Dell Technologies and Dell's ability to control matters requiring stockholder approval. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this blog, are based on current expectations and are subject to uncertainties and changes in condition, significance, value and effect as well as other risks detailed in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including VMware's most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K that we may file from time to time, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. VMware assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.

VMware, Carbon Black, Tanzu, vSphere, NSX and VMware Cloud Foundation are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other jurisdictions.