Zscaler has announced a collaboration with IBM and Red Hat aimed at protecting private applications from cyber threats during the vulnerable period between the public disclosure of security flaws and the deployment of patches.
The partnership brings together Zscaler’s Autonomous Application Shield, offered through the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange security platform, with Lightwell from IBM and Red Hat. This collaboration delivers a coordinated approach to immediate protection and validated software remediation.
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Red Hat Lightwell vice president and general manager Gunnar Hellekson said: “Collaborating with partners like Zscaler brings Lightwell’s capabilities to the forefront of enterprise networks, mitigating potential vulnerabilities head-on while patches are applied to critical systems.”
According to Zscaler, the rate at which cyber attackers exploit new vulnerabilities has increased. Zscaler cited Mandiant’s M-Trends 2026 report, which found that the average time for bad actors to exploit a vulnerability is now less than zero days, meaning attacks are happening before a patch is even available.
This accelerated threat environment has challenged organisations to secure their systems as patch cycles often lag behind attacker capabilities.
Zscaler said that the collaboration is an extension of its approach that assumes a window for remediation will always exist.
The measures include hiding private applications using Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) to reduce their discoverability and segmenting user-to-application access to contain threats. They also involve applying Autonomous Application Shield to stop exploit attempts inline until a permanent fix can be applied.
Operationally, Zscaler states that its App Connectors assess each private application for exposure and vulnerabilities, with adaptive protections being deployed in real time as needed.
In this joint solution, Zscaler’s infrastructure blocks exploit attempts at the network stage. Lightwell from IBM and Red Hat supplies tested remediations for open-source software flaws, allowing organisations to address the underlying issues with support for prioritisation and deployment.
Zscaler product management senior vice president Joby Menon said: “As attackers weaponise newly disclosed vulnerabilities faster than enterprises can respond, organisations need a way to protect private applications immediately while fixes are being prepared and deployed.
“Our collaboration with IBM and Red Hat brings together inline, application-specific protection and validated remediation to help customers reduce risk during that gap.”
In May, Zscaler acquired Symmetry Systems, with the goal of improving visibility and control over interactions between AI agents, applications, and enterprise data.
