vcf – Curious-Techies

August 25, 2025

Secure Your VMware Environment: Block SMB v1 with vDefend

A conversation about SMB protocol and how vDefend Firewall can help to Block legacy SMB protocols in a VCF or vSphere environment.

CuriousTechie: Hello IT Guy! I am trying to improve the security posture of my VMware SDDC Environment and block SMB version 1. Can I do it using vDefend firewall?

ITGuy: Absolutely! You can do it for the whole environment or very selectively for specific workloads. You can have the full flexibility and control over the traffic pattern using vDefend Firewall.

CuriousTechie: Alright but I do have a challenge. I have few legacy systems in the environment. They still use UDP port 137, 189, and TCP port 139 for NetBIOS services. Thus blocking these ports is not really an options for me.

April 29, 2025April 30, 2025

The Role of vDefend NDR in Protecting VMware SDDC Environments

A conversation about understanding the use and importance of vDefend Network Detection and Response.

CuriousTechie: Hello IT Guy! In the previous discussion here we talk about SSP(Security Services Platform) and the features we can activate/run on SSP. Can you help me understand how does the feature Network Detection & Response(NDR) actually detects and responds to threats?

ITGuy: That’s a very interesting feature!!!! When you activate NDR it does NOT actually Detects and Responds to any threats!!!

CuriousTechie: What???? Really???? Then what does it do????

March 28, 2025

Understanding VMware’s Security Services Platform (SSP)

A brief discussion about understanding vDefend Security Services Platform

CuriousTechie: Hello IT Guy! I have been hearing about a new product in VMware’s portfolio called SSP – Security Services Platform. Can you help me understand what is this product?

ITGuy: Sure! Have you worked with NAPP ( NSX Application Platform) ? And how was your experience working with NAPP?

CuriousTechie: Yes! I have deployed and used NAPP after having a conversation with you here. To be honest, it was fun but little tough to deploy. It required some Kubernetes knowledge and had a lot of dependencies. Also an air gap deployment was very challenging.

ITGuy: SSP is the successor of NAPP but its exponentially easy to deploy without any major dependency. vDefend Security Services Platform represents a next-generation solution for visualizing and managing vDefend Security within VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF). It is designed to deliver a high-performance, scalable platform that efficiently operates various vDefend security services.