Radware launches AI Xploit Shield for virtual patch protection
Radware (NASDAQ: RDWR) has unveiled AI Xploit Shield, a managed security service that uses AI models to automatically generate, test and deploy custom virtual patches for web applications and APIs. The service is aimed at enterprise security teams struggling to keep pace with a growing volume of newly disclosed vulnerabilities and an accelerating timeline from discovery to active exploitation.
The NASDAQ-listed application-security vendor says AI Xploit Shield is distinct from traditional virtual patching in that it generates protections specific to each customer's environment and API footprint, rather than deploying generic signatures or manually authored rules. Protections are delivered without modifying the underlying application code or infrastructure, which the company positions as particularly useful for organisations bound by testing requirements, legacy system constraints, or third-party software dependencies that slow conventional patch deployment.
The product
Chief operating officer Gabi Malka said the core problem is no longer simply finding vulnerabilities. "It's protecting applications before those vulnerabilities can be exploited. Organisations cannot depend on patching alone. They need a way to quickly translate vulnerability intelligence into protection while remediation efforts are underway."
Radware says AI Xploit Shield covers cloud, hybrid and on-premises environments and works across web applications and APIs. The company references frontier AI models, including Anthropic's Mythos, as examples of technology accelerating vulnerability discovery at scale, and frames AI Xploit Shield as a direct response to that trend. The release did not disclose pricing, specific throughput benchmarks, customer names, or an indication of how quickly protections are generated and deployed in practice beyond "near real time."
Radware will accompany the launch with a webinar titled "The Mythos Effect: Closing the AI-Driven Exposure Window," intended to demonstrate the service in a live setting.
Market context
The virtual patching and runtime application self-protection space is increasingly competitive. Cloudflare, Akamai, Imperva and F5 all offer web application firewall and API security capabilities that include some form of rapid protective rule deployment. A growing cohort of specialist API security vendors, including Salt Security and Noname Security (acquired by Akamai in 2024), also address the exploit-gap problem, often with AI-assisted anomaly detection.
What differentiates vendors at this tier is typically the speed and precision of protection generation, coverage breadth across legacy and modern API frameworks, and the quality of threat-intelligence feeds. Radware's claim to generate customer-specific shields at scale rather than relying on community signature feeds is the key differentiator asserted in the release, though the company has not published independent benchmark data to support the claim.
Regulatory read-across
The exploit-gap problem is increasingly a compliance concern as well as a technical one. NIS2, which took effect across EU member states in late 2024, places explicit obligations on critical-infrastructure operators to demonstrate timely vulnerability management. DORA, which applies to financial entities operating in the EU from January 2025, similarly requires documented processes for rapid risk mitigation. A service that generates documented, automated protective controls while a patch is in the testing pipeline addresses exactly the kind of audit trail these frameworks demand.
US federal agencies operating under CISA's known-exploited vulnerabilities catalogue face mandatory remediation windows, typically 14 days for critical CVEs, creating a comparable commercial pull for services that buy time during the validation cycle. Radware's multi-cloud and hybrid deployment model positions the product for both regulated and non-regulated enterprise segments globally.