Palo Alto Networks, IBM and Red Hat expand Project Lightwell for faster vulnerability protection

Palo Alto Networks, IBM and Red Hat announced an expanded partnership to integrate Palo Alto’s virtual‑patching technology with IBM’s Project Lightwell. The joint solution aims to accelerate the detection and mitigation of software vulnerabilities, especially as artificial‑intelligence tools enable threats to move from discovery to exploitation in minutes.

"AI has dramatically compressed the time from vulnerability discovery to exploitation, reducing weeks to minutes," said Nikesh Arora, CEO of Palo Alto Networks. The collaboration provides virtual patches at the network level while IBM and Red Hat deliver software‑level fixes for open‑source components, commercial applications, operational technology and connected devices. IBM Security Services will help customers prioritize, implement and validate protections, enabling organizations to defend against attacks before official updates are released.