How CISOs Can Help Solve Hybrid Cloud Security Complexity

CISOs face unprecedented complexity as hybrid and multicloud environments become the new normal.

Hybrid clouds offer newfound agility, but they also introduce distinct network security challenges. Some 94% of enterprises today report using cloud services, 92% have a multicloud strategy in the works and 93% report that cloud security is their number one concern.1

Adversaries are targeting hybrid cloud environments, including private and multicloud infrastructures, because of their access to sensitive data, privileged user accounts and integration with critical systems.

Traditional perimeter-based security models simply can't keep pace in a landscape where applications and data continuously move across private clouds, public clouds and on-premises datacenters.

In this context, CISOs and their security operations center (SOC) teams face mounting pressure to counter rapidly evolving cyber threats that target cloud application traffic. The Nutanix and Palo Alto Networks integrated solution can help. 

Hybrid Cloud Architectures Drive Novel Challenges for Enterprise Security Strategy

Hybrid cloud environments are becoming more common and extend CISO responsibilities across multiple environments while creating new challenges for organizational security posture.

• Limited visibility into internal (east-west) application traffic, especially in private, virtualized and public cloud setups where traditional physical firewalls are difficult or impossible to deploy.
• Insufficient control across private and public cloud environments, rooted in an absence of network security tools capable of delivering consistent management and enforcement of policies throughout multicloud and hybrid cloud infrastructures.
• Lack of automated network security provisioning solutions that can match the rapid pace of modern application.
• A struggle to secure buy-in from cloud application developers who may be accustomed to prioritizing speed over best practices for security.

To counteract lateral movement by attackers targeting critical systems and sensitive data, organizations are seeking to adopt strategies such as microsegmentation, zero-trust practices and cloud-based security powered by AI and machine learning.

However, CISOs often struggle to implement these methods effectively in multicloud and hybrid environments, where traditional physical firewalls are impractical.

Visibility and control problems are exacerbated because public cloud providers and software-defined networking tools typically include their own native firewall solutions, which differ widely in functionality and require separate management.

In practice, this inconsistency risks creating security gaps and management confusion.

Pivot to a Hybrid Cloud-Ready Security Stance with Nutanix and Palo Alto Networks

As part of our strategic technology partnership, Nutanix and Palo Alto Networks offer an integrated cloud network solution that features secure multitenant virtual private cloud (VPC) capabilities.

These VPC capabilities empower our joint customers to wrest control over where and how applications and data communicate, including across public, private and hybrid clouds.

Palo Alto Networks VM-Series Virtual Next-Generation Firewalls run within Nutanix Flow Virtual Networking VPCs using the Nutanix AHV virtualization platform.

These software firewalls use a policy-based approach to deliver flexible, reliable security directly to application traffic, regardless of whether applications reside in datacenters or extend across hybrid and multicloud setups.

This approach enables security policies to be enforced precisely where workloads operate within the Nutanix Cloud Platform (NCP) solution.

Streamlined Implementation for Zero-Trust Security

Zero trust is a strategic cybersecurity framework built on the idea of removing implicit trust and continuously validating every digital interaction.

Palo Alto Networks VM-Series virtual firewalls provide a practical and effective approach to implementing zero-trust principles in cloud and hybrid infrastructures.

As versatile software form factors of the Palo Alto Networks Zero Trust Network Security Platform, these virtual firewalls help to provide protections closer to VMs, containerized applications and cloud workloads, regardless of their deployment environment.

The VM-Series virtual firewalls apply core zero-trust concepts, such as enforcing least-privileged access and continuously verifying user, device and application identities.

Additionally, the VM-Series offers continuous inline security inspection using advanced machine learning and deep learning techniques that contribute to proactively detecting and neutralizing zero-day threats across every cloud in your organization.

By using Palo Alto Networks Panorama® for centralized network security management, organizations can manage VM-Series virtual firewall deployments across multiple public and private clouds to gain unified visibility into threats and consistent enforcement of security policies.

The VM-Series firewalls use a tag-based policy framework to promote easy, automated provisioning through CI/CD pipelines and help simplify microsegmentation.

Paving a Strategic Path Forward for CISOs

Together, Palo Alto Networks and Nutanix offer consistent visibility, robust control and simplified zero-trust implementation that can embolden CISOs to protect applications and data while maintaining agility across all cloud deployments.

Discover how Palo Alto Networks and Nutanix can help your organization navigate today’s complex security landscape with confidence:

• Learn more about the Nutanix and Palo Alto Networks partnership.
• Read the solution brief about Flow Virtual Networking with Palo Alto Networks VM-Series virtual firewalls for policy-based routing.
• Explore this detailed infographic on how Nutanix and Palo Alto Networks work together to help secure hybrid multicloud environments.
• Learn about our latest offerings with PANOS SDWAN and Nutanix AHV and Nutanix Cluster on AWS with VM-Series.

References

1. Zippia, “23 Cloud Adoption Statistics [2024]: Adoption Rates, Benefits, and Trends,” Zippia, accessed April 22, 2025, ttps://www.zippia.com/advice/cloud-adoption-statistics/

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