CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Akamai vs Illumio

Akamai sells cloud computing, security and content delivery products. Illumio is a security company that sells the Illumio Breach Containment Platform, which includes Illumio Insights and Illumio Segmentation for hybrid and multi-cloud environments. CISO Tribune files both under Microsegmentation. This page sets the two records side by side: what each sells, where it is based, who owns and funds it, the customers it names and its recent news, each fact numbered to its source.

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  • Akamai
  • Illumio
Akamai vs Illumio: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
AkamaiAkamai sells cloud computing, security and content delivery products.akamai.comIllumioIllumio is a security company that sells the Illumio Breach Containment Platform, which includes Illumio Insights and Illumio Segmentation for hybrid and multi-cloud environments.illumio.com
What it sells
  • App & API Protector[1][4]A web application firewall solution that identifies vulnerabilities and mitigates threats across web and API architectures.
  • Bot Manager[3][5][6]Detects bot traffic and mitigates malicious bots at the edge.
  • Prolexic[9]Akamai's DDoS protection platform.
  • Firewall for AI[8]Protects enterprise AI apps and LLMs from prompt injection, data exfiltration and toxic output.
  • Edge DNS[9]A DNS service built on Akamai's edge network.
  • Account Protector[6]A security solution that protects against account abuse across the lifecycle of an account.
  • Akamai Functions[3]An edge native serverless platform that runs globally.
  • Illumio Segmentation[1][5][7][14]Visualizes communication between workloads and devices and creates segmentation policies that allow only trusted connections across endpoints, servers, cloud and containers.
  • Illumio Insights[1][5][7][17]Builds a graph of network connections across environments to identify lateral movement and support real-time observability of traffic.
Categories
Headquarters
Not stated on its pagesSunnyvale, United States[4]
Founded
Not stated on its pages2013[2]
Ownership and funding
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
  • October 27, 2026Akamai launched Akamai Inference and Akamai Agent Sandbox, two AI stack products for its cloud platform.[13]
  • July 2, 2026Akamai completed its acquisition of LayerX, a secure enterprise browser provider.[14]
  • March 19, 2026Illumio announced enhancements to Illumio Insights, led by the introduction of Network Posture.[17]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: listed, seen November 10, 2026[15]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: listed, seen October 25, 2026[6]
Who it fits
From its own pages, Akamai sells security for enterprise AI apps and LLMs through Firewall for AI. App & API Protector Hybrid is sold for on-prem, hybrid cloud and multi-CDN environments. Akamai describes organizations that keep some on-prem DNS nameservers and GSLBs for administrative or compliance requirements. Akamai Guardicore Segmentation is applied by an organization in the financial industry working toward Zero Trust. A water utility secured critical infrastructure with Akamai Guardicore Segmentation.From its own pages, Illumio sells mainly to organisations running hybrid and multi-cloud environments. Illumio publishes pages for financial services, energy and utilities, healthcare, government, manufacturing, telecom, and small and midsize businesses. Illumio says it helps financial institutions, utility operators, and telecom providers. Illumio also says its platform is built to be fast, simple, and flexible for small and midsize businesses.
Last verified
November 6, 2026September 27, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Akamai and Illumio are both filed under Microsegmentation.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Akamai's primary category is WAF and WAAP; Illumio's is Microsegmentation.
  • Akamai is also filed under DDoS protection and Bot and abuse management. Illumio is also filed under Network visibility and traffic brokering.
  • Akamai lists App & API Protector, Bot Manager, Prolexic, Firewall for AI, Edge DNS and 2 more. Illumio lists Illumio Segmentation and Illumio Insights.
  • Illumio is headquartered in Sunnyvale, United States.
  • Illumio was founded in 2013.

What it sells: Akamai

What App & API Protector does[1][4]
App & API Protector Hybrid extends security off the Akamai platform for on-prem, hybrid cloud and multi-CDN environments. Akamai's all-in-one approach consolidates WAF, API security, bot management and DDoS protection in a single solution. An open API is available for automating App & API Protector configuration changes in a CI/CD pipeline.
What Bot Manager does[3][5][6]
Bot Manager generates a score from 0 (human) to 100 (bot) and looks at all anomalies, starting with the very first request. Bot Manager provides visualization and reporting tools that show the impact various types of bots have on a business and its infrastructure.
What Prolexic does[9]
Prolexic is Akamai's DDoS protection platform. Edge DNS and Shield NS53 can be used with Prolexic to protect digital infrastructure across all layers, ports and protocols.
What Firewall for AI does[8]
Firewall for AI runs at the edge to inspect prompts and responses before they reach AI apps. Akamai Firewall for AI is model-agnostic and works with any LLM-based or AI-driven application. Incoming prompts are analyzed to detect and block threats like prompt injection attacks, jailbreaks and policy violations. Deployment options include the Akamai edge or a REST API.
What Edge DNS does[9]
Akamai Shield NS53 is a reverse proxy solution that protects on-prem and hybrid DNS infrastructure. Edge DNS provides an availability SLA with guaranteed 100% uptime.
What Account Protector does[6]
Account Protector uses a combination of user, device, IP, network, bot and reputation indicators to create a user risk score for each UUID. Block, alert and allow actions are performed based on the user risk score. Account Protector includes all of Akamai Bot Manager's capabilities. User information can be passed to a SIEM using the Akamai SIEM Integration connector.
What Akamai Functions does[3]
Rust, Go, JavaScript, Python and other languages that compile to WebAssembly can be used. Applications are packaged and deployed using open tooling like Spin and SpinKube, locally, in Kubernetes or directly to the edge. Bot Manager can be combined with Akamai Functions so that identified bots are routed to a function that generates bot-specific responses.

Questions about Akamai and Illumio

What do Akamai and Illumio sell?
Akamai sells App & API Protector, Bot Manager, Prolexic, Firewall for AI, Edge DNS and 2 more. Illumio sells Illumio Segmentation and Illumio Insights.
Are Akamai and Illumio in the same category?
They share Microsegmentation. Akamai's primary category is WAF and WAAP and Illumio's is Microsegmentation.
Where are Akamai and Illumio headquartered?
Illumio is headquartered in Sunnyvale, United States.
When were Akamai and Illumio founded?
Illumio was founded in 2013.
Who are Akamai and Illumio sold to?
From its own pages, Akamai sells security for enterprise AI apps and LLMs through Firewall for AI. From its own pages, Illumio sells mainly to organisations running hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
What have Akamai and Illumio announced recently?
October 27, 2026: Akamai launched Akamai Inference and Akamai Agent Sandbox, two AI stack products for its cloud platform. March 19, 2026: Illumio announced enhancements to Illumio Insights, led by the introduction of Network Posture.

About Akamai

Akamai sells cloud computing, security and content delivery products. Akamai Cloud has added more GPU capacity, an in-memory database and Kubernetes updates. Akamai Inference and Akamai Agent Sandbox extend Akamai Cloud to serve, run and secure AI applications and agents from core to edge. Akamai Functions is an edge native serverless platform that runs globally.[2][3]

App & API Protector defends at the edge and blocks large-scale attacks, and App & API Protector Hybrid extends WAF defense to multicloud and on-prem environments. Akamai's all-in-one approach consolidates WAF, API security, bot management and DDoS protection in a single solution. Akamai Adaptive Security Engine delivers real-time, automated protection across edge, cloud and hybrid environments. The Behavioral DDoS Engine provides automated defense against volumetric attacks. An open API is available for automating App & API Protector configuration changes in a CI/CD pipeline. SMU turns to Akamai App & API Protector and Dynamic Site Accelerator for online shopping. Grupo Xcaret relies on Akamai for app and API protection, bot mitigation and site delivery.[4]

Akamai Bot Manager detects bot traffic, mitigates malicious bots at the edge and manages good bots. Bot Manager generates a score from 0 (human) to 100 (bot) and looks at all anomalies, starting with the very first request. Bot Manager provides visualization and reporting tools that show the impact various types of bots have on a business and its infrastructure. Account Protector is a security solution designed to protect against account abuse across the lifecycle of an account, using machine learning and a dataset of risk and trust indicators. Account Protector uses a combination of user, device, IP, network, bot and reputation indicators to create a user risk score for each UUID. Account Protector includes all of Akamai Bot Manager's capabilities.[5][6]

Akamai Guardicore Segmentation is used to gain visibility across an environment and limit lateral movement. SBI Holdings is working to achieve Zero Trust with Akamai Guardicore Segmentation. A water utility secured critical infrastructure and protected essential services for 1.6 million people with Akamai Guardicore Segmentation. Samsung Life Insurance protects hundreds of applications and thousands of workload servers with Akamai.[2][7]

Akamai Firewall for AI protects enterprise AI apps and LLMs from prompt injection, data exfiltration and toxic output. Firewall for AI runs at the edge to inspect prompts and responses before they reach AI apps. Akamai Firewall for AI is model-agnostic and works with any LLM-based or AI-driven application. Edge DNS is built on Akamai's edge network. Akamai Shield NS53 is a reverse proxy solution that protects on-prem and hybrid DNS infrastructure. Edge DNS provides an availability SLA with guaranteed 100% uptime. Prolexic is Akamai's DDoS protection platform.[4][8][9]

NodeBalancers is a fully managed load balancing solution. NodeBalancers support TCP, HTTP and HTTPS load balancing via HTTP/1.1. CloudTest is a load testing platform. CloudTest is offered as a fully managed or self-service solution and supports websites, apps, APIs and CI/CD processes. Akamai Inference is a fully managed inference service for running AI models in production. Pay-per-token Serverless Inference and Dedicated Inference with reserved GPUs are available, separately or together. AI models are called through an OpenAI-compatible API while Akamai handles GPUs, serving, autoscaling and model lifecycle management.[3][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

Akamai on the record

Sources

Akamai full record

  1. [1]akamai.comAkamai · akamai.com · undated page, accessed November 6, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Cloud Computing, Security, Content Delivery (CDN) | AkamaiAkamai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Akamai Functions | Serverless | WebAssembly | AkamaiAkamai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]App & API Protector — Website Application Protection | AkamaiAkamai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Bot Manager | Bot Detection, Protection, and Management | AkamaiAkamai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Account Takeover and Identity Theft Protection | AkamaiAkamai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Akamai Guardicore Segmentation for Hybrid Cloud | AkamaiAkamai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Protection and Security for AI and LLM Applications | AkamaiAkamai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]DNS security | Edge DNS | Shield NS53 | AkamaiAkamai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]NodeBalancers | AkamaiAkamai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]CloudTest | Real-Time Load Testing Tool | AkamaiAkamai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Akamai Inference | AI Inference | AkamaiAkamai · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Akamai Launches AI Inference Service and Agent Execution Environment | AkamaiAkamai · published October 27, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]Akamai Completes Acquisition of Secure Enterprise Browser Provider LayerX | AkamaiAkamai · published July 2, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]Akamai Cloud Computing Reviews & Product DetailsG2 · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier C

Illumio full record

  1. [1]Illumio platformIllumio · illumio.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]About illumioIllumio · illumio.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Illumio delivers agentless visibility and breach containment for hybrid environmentsIllumio · illumio.com · published February 26, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]ContactIllumio · illumio.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Breach Containment & Cloud Detection and Response | IllumioIllumio · undated page, accessed October 25, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Illumio Reviews, Ratings & Features 2026 | Gartner Peer InsightsGartner Peer Insights · undated page, accessed October 25, 2026 · Tier C
  7. [7]Zero Trust Solutions | Illumioillumio.com · undated page, accessed November 6, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Hybrid Cloud Security Solutions | IllumioIllumio · undated page, accessed November 6, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Segmentation for Financial Services | Illumioillumio.com · undated page, accessed November 6, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Energy Infrastructure and Utility Security | Illumioillumio.com · undated page, accessed November 6, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Zero Trust Healthcare Solutions | Illumioillumio.com · undated page, accessed November 6, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Regulatory Compliance Solutions | Illumioillumio.com · undated page, accessed November 6, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Cybersecurity Solutions - Zero Trust Microsegmentation | Illumioillumio.com · undated page, accessed November 6, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]Manufacturingillumio.com · undated page, accessed November 6, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]Telecom Network Security | Illumio Breach Containmentillumio.com · undated page, accessed November 6, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]Small Business Cybersecurity Solutions | Illumioillumio.com · undated page, accessed November 6, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]Illumio Defines Breach Containment for the AI EraIllumio · published March 19, 2026 · Tier A

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