Akamai has introduced a new solution developed in partnership with NVIDIA aimed at strengthening the protection of critical systems against the rising threat of sophisticated cyberattacks. The solution combines the Akamai Guardicore Segmentation software with NVIDIA BlueField data processing units, enabling organizations to cover entire operational technology (OT) environments and industrial control systems (ICS), including non-programmable industrial equipment such as heavy machinery and vital control systems essential for production. This hardware-based, agentless security approach also facilitates compliance with more stringent regulations and helps reduce cyber insurance risks.
Defending critical infrastructure has historically been complex, as many cybersecurity tools require deploying agents on computers. However, the increase in targeted threats to industrial environments has driven the search for alternatives capable of protecting sensitive assets, such as specialized controllers found in water treatment plants, power grids, or factories. Often, these systems are outdated or particularly delicate, so installing additional software can cause failures or disrupt production, leaving infrastructure vulnerable.
The joint solution tackles this issue by shifting configurable security processes from the host system to the NVIDIA BlueField DPU. This approach enables segmentation based on the Zero Trust model without installing software on legacy or fragile systems, providing deep external visibility into systems, networks, and applications without operational interruptions. Additionally, it allows for real-time security policy enforcement and the establishment of a robust perimeter around critical systems, enhancing operational monitoring and overall resilience against threats.
Beyond segmentation, the solution can identify anomalous network connections and indicators of compromise. The agentless approach allows organizations to filter threats and isolate compromised systems at the hardware level, mitigating and hindering threat proliferation—even if a breach occurs on the main computer of an installation. Acting as an independent “bump-in-the-wire” protector, NVIDIA BlueField can secure sensitive industrial equipment with minimal impact on system performance or machinery uptime.
“Whether managing a water treatment plant or a high-performance computing cluster, the priority is keeping the system running at full speed. Security software should never compromise performance,” says Ofer Wolf, Senior Vice President of Enterprise Security at Akamai. “In the past, protecting these environments was extremely challenging because machines couldn’t support traditional security tools without risking crashes or slowing vital calculations. Akamai and NVIDIA are changing that. By offloading segmentation and observability to the DPU, we give organizations an effective way to stop attacks while maximizing CPU power for the heavy tasks those systems are designed for.”
“AI is fundamentally transforming all businesses, and as automation expands, securing enterprise data and resources is absolutely critical, but security can’t come at the expense of uptime or resilience,” adds Kevin Deierling, Senior Vice President of Networking at NVIDIA. “By integrating Akamai’s segmentation capabilities directly into NVIDIA BlueField, organizations can implement the Zero Trust model at the infrastructure layer, safeguarding their most sensitive operations without affecting system stability or production performance.”
This collaboration between Akamai and NVIDIA comes at a crucial moment. Recent assessments by the U.S. federal government highlight that the energy and transportation sectors are now primary targets of adversaries seeking widespread disruptions.
The joint solution is expected to be available worldwide in the second quarter of 2026.