Versa Networks adds AI capabilities to SASE platform

Versa Networks has announced enhancements in the artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) capabilities of its Unified secure access service edge (SASE) platform to address rising security threats and network complexity.

The AI/ML-powered enhancements include features designed to improve threat detection, accelerate remediation and bolster data protection. These are said to enable security teams to more effectively manage threats and improve their security posture in an increasingly sophisticated and complex threat environment.

Explaining the rationale for the launch, Versa Networks stressed the need for AI in security. It noted that chief security information officers (CISOs), chief information officers (CIOs) and their often understaffed teams continue to grapple with a challenging reality: more security tools have not translated into better security.

Moreover, it said teams struggle to find relevant insights as they face an avalanche of security data, and that their traditional, manual detection and remediation methods are inadequate against the faster, more complex AI-driven threats, and increasing investments in personnel and tools have proven ineffective.

To address these challenges, the new VersaAI encompasses an integrated set of AI technologies built into the core Versa Unified SASE platform, designed to deliver insights for threat protection, data protection and operations. It is also said to tap into a data lake with the telemetry from across the network and security infrastructure to extract AI/ML insights that are seamlessly applied across the Versa product suite. The scope extends from the WAN edge to cloud, campus, remote locations, users and devices.

VersaAI is also attributed with introducing several capabilities supporting advanced security use cases. Threat detection and data protection features include a generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) firewall, which expands on existing capabilities to limit shadow use cases of GenAI, thereby reducing the new GenAI-related attack surfaces and emerging risks. It manages, monitors and reports how businesses consume GenAI. Versa added that with GenAI Firewall, organisations can assess risks of apps, control access and prevent unauthorised data movement.

Extensive telemetry data finetunes AI models to deliver highly accurate insights to bolster security posture in real time and enable human operators to fight AI with AI

Another key feature is relationship mapping for user entity behaviour analytics (UEBA), using social graphs to detect anomalies, determine the blast radius and find the root cause of a security incident. Given the functionality, security teams can visualise risk and accelerate forensic analysis to drill down into the relationships between users, devices, apps and resources. In addition, Versa says governance teams can use the functionality to adapt security policies and access controls and compliance requirements.

Regarding anomaly detection and response, the new solution’s explainable AI offers reasoning behind anomaly detections without using logs to make it easier for operations teams to understand AI-driven analysis and to respond more effectively.

Mitre ATT&CK tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) added to Versa UEBA are intended to improve the fidelity of threat detection and rapid incident response with detailed insights into adversary behaviours from an expanded library of attack behaviours.

“Our advantage lies in the extensive unified security and networking telemetry generated by our platform over our vast SASE deployment base,” said Kumar Mehta, Versa founder and chief development officer. “This extensive telemetry data finetunes AI models to deliver highly accurate insights to bolster security posture in real time and enable human operators to fight AI with AI.”