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VMware has closed a deal to acquire Mesh7. The start-up specialises in cloud-native observability. With this, VMware wants to expand its security offerings.

Mesh7 is a start-up that has built a platform to detect possible threats to applications. The platform monitors a number of things, such as APIs, logs of the public cloud, host processes, user identities and cyber threat information. Based on this data, the system looks for any suspicious actions that might suggest a vulnerability or security breach.

Related: Security company Carbon Black acquired by VMware

Built on Envoy

What is convenient for VMware is that the Mesh7 platform is built on Envoy, an open-source proxy that allows applications to gain insight into network activity. VMware also runs its own software on Envoy, Tanzu Service Mesh. This software is intended to provide connectivity and security for apps and microservices running on Kubernetes.

Also read: Will VMware Tanzu be the leading Kubernetes management solution?

In a blog post, VMware says it knew early on that Envoy would be the platform for the next generation of security services. “Tanzu Service Mesh controls the communication between thousands of application components, enforces security policy and measures performance and other critical functions, regardless of the underlying infrastructure.”

However, as applications increasingly move to APIs and Layer 7 constructs, VMware sees a growing demand for a fully integrated API and service mesh product based on Envoy. Since Mesh7 was already working on such a product, it was an obvious choice for VMware to collaborate.

Better understanding of communications through APIs

“Once the deal closes, the integration of Mesh7’s contextual API behavior security solution with Tanzu Service Mesh will enable VMware to deliver high fidelity understanding of which applications components are talking to which using APIs. Developers and Security teams will each gain a better understanding of when, where and how applications and microservices are communicating via APIs, even across multi-cloud environments, enabling better DevSecOps.”

How much VMware is paying for the acquisition of Mesh7 is not known.

Tip: VMware unveils Tanzu Advanced and Project Iris