Illumio - Experts & Thought Leaders

FireMon, the pioneering network security and firewall policy management company, detailed expanded support for Zero Trust microsegmentation across hybrid environments, including a deeper integration with Illumio and continued coverage for VMware NSX and Zscaler. By normalizing, analyzing, and continuously validating segmentation intent across network, virtual, and host enforcement points, FireMon helps security teams operationalize Zero Trust at enterprise scale. Firewall governance report “The future isn’t more consoles,” said Jody Brazil, CEO of FireMon. “It’s one policy playbook that proves control efficacy every day and the evidence to back it up.” Organizations using FireMon to unify segmentation and firewall governance report measurable outcomes, including up to a 90% reduction in compliance reporting time through consolidated policy data and faster validation and change reviews across the hybrid networks. They also eliminate blind spots between virtual, host, and network enforcement points, strengthening segmentation consistency, and overall control assurance. “Zero Trust only works when segmentation policies are governed and consistent across every layer,” Brazil added. “We’re giving teams one place to validate intent, spot drift, prove compliance, maintain least access, whether the control lives on a firewall, a fabric, or the host.” Making Zero Trust real with microsegmentation Regulators and industry groups are pushing beyond periodic audits toward continuous proof that controls work every day. While Zero Trust has become mainstream, many organizations still struggle to operationalize segmentation due to siloed policies and governance blind spots. Fresh telemetry from FireMon Insights found 60% of enterprise firewalls fail high-severity compliance checks on first evaluation and 34% fail at critical levels — failures that point to process and ownership issues, not just isolated misconfigurations. Unifying segmentation and firewall policy under one governance model directly addresses this challenge, allowing enterprises to prove control efficacy across every enforcement plane. Illumio label-based policies “The Illumio Platform is the enforcement engine enterprises rely on to stop lateral movement and contain breaches. As organizations scale segmentation across hybrid environments, they need governance that aligns host-level intent with broader network policy." "Our collaboration with FireMon enables customers to extend Illumio label-based policies into unified governance workflows, ensuring segmentation remains consistent, validated, and continuously enforced, strengthening breach containment,” Sarab Matharu, Director, Tech Alliances at Illumio. How host-level segmentation from Illumio Matharu added: “Our collaboration with Firemon gives organizations the visibility and governance they need to connect segmentation intent with enterprise-wide policy assurance.” This integration highlights how host-level segmentation from Illumio and centralized policy governance from FireMon combine to deliver continuous Zero Trust validation, from the data center to the endpoint. What’s new Deeper Illumio integration (host-based Zero Trust Segmentation). FireMon ingests Illumio’s label-driven policies alongside firewall and cloud controls to: Optimize Illumio-defined policies to achieve least access, detect inconsistencies between network and host policies, validate segmentation against frameworks (e.g., PCI, NIST, CIS), and automate recertification and evidence collection across enforcement planes. NSX distributed firewall groups The result is a single governance workflow that keeps segmentation intent aligned from the data center to the cloud to the endpoint. VMware NSX microsegmentation, modeled in context. FireMon visualizes NSX distributed firewall groups and rules within the same hybrid topology used for physical firewalls, enabling conflict detection across virtual and physical layers, change simulation before deployment, and automated compliance checks for NSX-managed zones. FireMon has long supported NSX policy orchestration and visibility. Zscaler cloud-delivered Zero Trust, governed centrally. By integrating Zscaler policy data, FireMon extends policy visibility, risk analysis, and reporting to SASE and firewall-as-a-service environments, aligning user-to-app paths with on-prem and cloud controls, and reducing misconfiguration risk before changes ship. Operationalizing Zero Trust with FireMon Unified topology and policy normalization. See how access is permitted or denied at the network, virtual, and host layers in one console; analyze multi-vendor rules with a consistent schema for faster troubleshooting and safer change. Continuous compliance, not audit season. Run automated checks against control baselines, track exceptions, and measure time-to-remediate across firewalls, NSX segments, Zscaler policies, and Illumio labels with evidence on demand. Change simulation and policy optimization. Design and verify segmentation and access changes before deployment; flag redundant, shadowed, or overly permissive rules to shrink attack paths and simplify audits. Scale across the environment. FireMon supports 120+ firewall and cloud platforms, so segmentation governance lands where teams already manage policy. Built for hybrid reality The integrations align with how operators run modern environments: Illumio for label-driven, host-level containment to cut lateral movement, VMware NSX for distributed microsegmentation in virtualized data centers, and Zscaler for cloud-delivered enforcement at user and app edges, all governed through FireMon’s policy management workflows.

Illumio Inc., the breach containment company, announced Insights Agent, a new capability within Illumio Insights, the company’s AI-driven cloud detection and response (CDR) solution. Agent is an AI-powered, persona-driven guide designed to reduce alert fatigue, accelerate threat detection, and enable containment by delivering real-time, tailored alerts and instant one-click remediation recommendations. This powerful extension of Insights helps security teams stay focused and move quickly to contain threats before they escalate. Real-time discovery and containment “Security teams are overwhelmed by noise, and we don’t need more useless alerts; we need more actionable answers,” says Andrew Rubin, CEO and Founder of Illumio. “Illumio Insights was built to deliver clarity, not clutter. With Agent, we’re taking the next step: every user gets a personalized risk view tailored to their role, along with immediate, practical guidance on what to do next. This is real-time discovery and containment, designed for the people who defend our organizations every day.” Threat detection and actionable guidance Building on the foundation of Illumio Insights, Agent delivers role-aware threat detection and actionable guidance aligned to each user’s responsibilities, whether threat hunter, incident responder, or compliance analyst. It automatically prioritizes threats by severity and surfaces the most relevant ones for each user, enabling faster decision-making and more effective containment. With teams receiving an average of more than 2,000 alerts per day (roughly one every 42 seconds), according to the 2025 Global Cloud Detection and Response Report, reducing triage delays has never been more critical. Real-time visibility into traffic and risks The intelligent, targeted approach of Agent is made possible by the advanced capabilities of Insights. Powered by an AI security graph, Illumio Insights ingests and analyzes cloud-scale network data, delivering real-time visibility into traffic and risks. This purpose-built solution forms the foundation for Agent, enabling security teams to detect and contain threats with unprecedented speed and precision. Agent spotlight innovations Persona-Based AI Guidance: Users select from roles like threat hunter, incident responder, data security, or compliance monitor to receive insights tailored to their responsibilities. In-Depth Investigative Analysis: AI-powered analysis of workloads, policies, and flows with severity-ranked recommendations. Accelerated Threat Detection: Continuous background monitoring of flow and workload communication to spot anomalies. AI-Driven Response Plan: This plan guides users through prioritized, step-by-step remediation with automated handoffs across the security stack for fast, effective resolution. MITRE ATT&CK Mapping: Agent maps threats to the MITRE ATT&CK framework, helping users understand attacker techniques, prioritize responses, and reduce alert fatigue.   One-Click Containment: Integrated with Illumio Segmentation, it enables instant isolation of compromised workloads; no host agents are required. Illumio Insights and Illumio Segmentation Agent is available in public preview as part of Insights and for Microsoft customers via the Microsoft Security Store, with general availability expected in December. Illumio Insights and Illumio Segmentation have been deployed across the entire corporate IT environment at Microsoft.

Illumio, the breach containment company, announced the general availability of Illumio Insights, a powerful new product within the Illumio Platform. As the only platform that delivers a complete approach to reducing lateral movement risk, Illumio now combines AI-powered detection, real-time risk insights, and one-click containment with strategic segmentation for proactive protection. Built on an AI security graph, Illumio Insights transforms how security teams detect, prioritize, and contain threats across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. Private preview During the private preview, early adopters uncovered a range of unexpected risks only made visible with Illumio Insights’ deep observability and behavior-based analytics. Among the most notable findings were widespread east-west traffic from unsanctioned geographies, misconfigured services exposing risky ports, and a surprising prevalence of unsanctioned usage of public LLMs. Building on these learnings, Illumio has introduced several additional powerful capabilities as part of the general availability release. New capabilities include: Country Insights gives users a clear view of traffic and threats by geography, helping them quickly spot unusual activity and apply geo-specific policies to reduce risk. Quarantine Dashboard enables one-click isolation of compromised systems, empowering teams to stop threats from spreading without needing advanced technical skills. Resource View makes it even easier to investigate resources and enables teams to act fast to limit exposure. Security graphs “Enterprises often struggle to maintain an accurate inventory of all devices, applications, and data flows across increasingly complex networks — especially with the rise of cloud services and hybrid environments,” said Dr. Chase Cunningham, DrZeroTrust. “Security graphs address this challenge by automatically ingesting data from diverse sources such as asset databases, cloud APIs, and network scans to build a dynamic, real-time map of infrastructure and dependencies. This living model not only enhances visibility but also strengthens security posture by revealing hidden risks and attack paths.” Breach containment platform Insights helps organizations stop the spread of attacks before they escalate into full-blown disasters With these advancements, Illumio Insights delivers on its promise to help security teams detect, prioritize, and contain threats more effectively. It empowers teams to act on what they see with one-click containment, accelerating Zero Trust Segmentation at cloud scale. As part of Illumio’s breach containment platform, Insights helps organizations stop the spread of attacks before they escalate into full-blown disasters. Unparalleled visibility “Illumio Insights offers unparalleled visibility and granular segmentation capabilities that empower organizations to strengthen their cyber resilience,” said Delisa Stone, Partner, Cyber Security, Cloud and Resilience at Deloitte Technology and Transformation. “We recommend Illumio Insights to our clients seeking to enhance their security posture with a scalable, adaptive solution that aligns with evolving regulatory and operational demands.” “Insights is the capability which now cuts to the chase,” said Stuart McCulloch, Cyber Security Product Manager from BT Global Services UK. “It directs you to key data, allowing you to make faster decisions on actions you need to take to better protect your environment.” Illumio Platform Illumio Insights and Illumio Segmentation are integral components of the Illumio Platform “The biggest gap in cybersecurity today isn’t tools, it’s visibility. And that’s exactly what Illumio Insights delivers,” says Andrew Rubin, CEO and Founder of Illumio. “Illumio Insights changes the game. It gives security teams the visibility they’ve been missing, like what’s talking to what, where the risk is, and how to contain it fast. This isn’t about more alerts, it’s about actionable intelligence that helps organizations stay ahead of real threats." Illumio Insights and Illumio Segmentation are integral components of the Illumio Platform, the first cybersecurity platform focused on breach containment. Illumio Insights helps organizations quickly identify and detect threats, while Illumio Segmentation contains breaches, protects critical assets, and enables instant response. Together, these solutions help identify and mitigate risks, contain attacks, and enhance overall cyber resilience.

Trevor Dearing, the EMEA Director of Critical Infrastructure Solutions at Illumio, said “It is encouraging to see NIST releasing updated guidance acknowledging the increase in cyber-attacks targeting the supply chain and the consequent necessity to bolster the supply chain’s cyber security. We can no longer turn a blind eye to the exponential increase in attacks on the IT systems of manufacturers, logistics companies and organizations, which ultimately target the operational part of the business.” Cyber-attacks have real-world impacts Cyber-attacks that disrupt the logistics or manufacturing process can have immediate real-world impacts" He adds, “The truth is threat actors have realized they can increase efficiency and profitability, by compromising a single product, knowing it will have impact downstream on companies who use it.” Trevor Dearing continues, “Moreover, cyber-attacks that disrupt the logistics or manufacturing process can have immediate real-world impacts, further increasing the likelihood that any ransom demands will be met, as organizations flounder to get critical systems back up and running. The result is that supply chain attacks have increased with a vengeance.” Zero Trust approach to security He adds “A Zero Trust approach to security provides organizations with confidence in their supply chain security because by only allowing known and verified communication between environments, security teams can be sure that an attack on the IT systems will not affect the management or logistics processes.” Trevor Dearing concludes, “With the move to industry 4.0 and the adoption of cloud-connected industrial IoT (Internet of Things), the potential impact of a ransomware attack will only continue to grow. That’s why, it is important to act now and put security measures in place that will make our infrastructure resilient to attacks – even once they’ve breached our perimeter.”