TL;DR:
- Versa Networks elevates SD-WAN and SASE portfolio with advanced AI enhancements.
- AI-powered features leverage telemetry data for real-time security, network optimization, and management streamlining.
- New AI-infused malware detection enhances threat protection through preprocessing and adaptive microsegmentation.
- AI-assisted data loss prevention (DLP) integrates context-based analysis and natural language processing (NLP).
- AIOps-powered capabilities include VersaGPT for guided access and Versa Advanced Network Insights (VANI) for AI-driven traffic steering.
- Kumar Mehta, CDO, highlights the progressive AI journey, including UEBA and VANI applications.
- VANI’s “AI-informed predictive traffic steering” ensures proactive network performance optimization.
- Versa Networks fortifies zero-trust network access (ZTNA) with AI-driven adaptive microsegmentation.
Main AI News:
In a strategic move towards fortified networking solutions, Versa Networks is unveiling a spectrum of innovative security and networking augmentations within its SASE and SD-WAN portfolio. The driving force behind these advancements is the infusion of cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.
The foundation for these AI enhancements is rooted in Versa’s comprehensive telemetry data amassed through diverse customer deployments. This invaluable data cache fuels the refinement of Versa’s algorithms, enabling the augmentation of real-time security measures, optimization of network functionalities, and streamlining of management procedures.
Elevated Security Measures
An impressive leap in AI-powered malware detection for advanced threat mitigation takes center stage in Versa’s evolution. A multistage AI methodology conducts real-time preprocessing of files and code, deftly identifying malicious entities. To further fortify the security framework, adaptive microsegmentation capabilities are introduced, furnishing a highly granular zero-trust access protocol tailored to distinct users, devices, and resources.
Data Integrity Reinforced
To fortify data protection, Versa introduces AI-infused data loss prevention (DLP), infused with context-based analysis. This sophisticated system identifies sensitive information scattered across various prompts, documents, and images. By melding conventional pattern-matching DLP with cutting-edge natural language processing (NLP) techniques, inadvertent data breaches are averted.
Network Enhancement Unleashed
Versa Networks now unveils a suite of AI-driven capabilities under the banner of AIOps. Among these, VersaGPT harnesses the power of generative AI to offer guided access to documentation, actionable recommendations, and systematic troubleshooting. Furthermore, Versa’s predictive networking powerhouse, known as Versa Advanced Network Insights (VANI), is now equipped with AI-driven traffic steering capabilities. This integration empowers VANI to steer network traffic proactively, ensuring seamless adherence to service-level agreements while preemptively sidestepping potential issues.
Strategic Insights from Kumar Mehta
Kumar Mehta, Chief Development Officer at Versa Networks, shares insight into the transformative potential of these advancements. He asserts that these novel features not only pave the way for simplified management of intricate networks but also augment threat detection and protection. The comprehensive impact of Versa’s AI integration is poised to redefine network management, ensuring proactive optimization and security.
Building on AI Foundations
Versa Networks’ foray into AI integration isn’t uncharted territory. The company has harnessed AI’s prowess in previous iterations of its portfolio. Mehta highlights the continuous evolution of these capabilities, citing the application of AI in UEBA (User and Entity Behavior Analytics) for detecting anomalous user and network behaviors.
He also underscores the previously unveiled Verbo, an NLP-based chatbot that provides automated solutions for network troubleshooting. Not to be overlooked, VANI stands as a dedicated machine learning core that forecasts and detects network anomalies, bolstering operational efficiency.
Steering into the Future
VANI’s expansion emerges as a pivotal facet of this new update, enabling what Versa dubs “AI-informed predictive traffic steering.” Mehta elucidates this concept, stating that this feature propels networks towards a proactive, forward-looking perspective. Contrasting with traditional BGP (Border Gateway Protocol), which centers on the current network state, predictive networking champions proactive resolution of network challenges, ensuring optimal performance and preempting downtimes.
Amplifying Zero Trust
Crucial to the modern paradigm of zero-trust network access (ZTNA) security architecture is the art of precise control over network segments—a concept termed microsegmentation. In its latest strides, Versa Networks elevates its ZTNA capabilities through AI-driven adaptive microsegmentation.
Mehta’s elucidation reveals that for remote users, network resource access hinges on user and device identities, target applications, and dynamic trust and device posture assessments. In on-premises scenarios, Versa Networks introduces line rate microsegmentation within software-defined switches and access points, factoring in device posture, user attributes, groups, and device fingerprints. Mehta emphasizes AI’s role in dynamically identifying aberrant and suspicious behavior within this framework.
Conclusion:
The integration of AI into Versa Networks’ SD-WAN and SASE solutions represents a significant stride towards revolutionizing business connectivity. The combination of AI-driven security enhancements, data protection, predictive network management, and adaptive microsegmentation stands to reshape network architecture. This strategic move aligns with the growing demand for intelligent, proactive, and fortified networking solutions in a dynamic market landscape.
