VMware enhances AI security with AgentMinder and vDefend updates

VMware by Broadcom has introduced AgentMinder, a central control plane designed for autonomous AI agents, as part of a major AI security push announced at VMware Explore 2026. According to a CRN reports, the rollout also includes new capabilities for both vDefend and Avi Load Balancer.

AgentMinder acts as a central control plane for autonomous AI agents, verifying their identity and authorizing actions based on mission, intent, context, and risk before they interact with enterprise resources. This aligns with zero-trust principles, allowing granular control over AI agent behavior, similar to user access controls. Justin Giardina, CTO of 11:11 Systems, highlighted AgentMinder's role in addressing customer concerns about AI safety. The product supports deployment across various Kubernetes platforms.

Additionally, VMware introduced enhancements to vDefend, extending zero-trust lateral security to AI workloads by automatically identifying components like LLMs and datastores. New vDefend features include shadow AI monitoring, unauthorized usage detection, and automated generation of intrusion detection signatures for virtual patching.

Avi Load Balancer also received updates, offering AI-aware load balancing and enhanced protection against tool and agent misuse, zero-day attacks through anomalous behavior detection, and sensitive data exfiltration prevention. These updates provide multi-layered cybersecurity solutions for governing AI agents and protecting enterprise AI workloads.

Source: CRN