F5 Acquires MantisNet For Cloud-Native Observability, Security Push

MantisNet’s technology will give users of F5’s flagship Application Delivery and Security Platform deeper insight into their cloud-native, virtualized, or 5G environments, the companies said.

Application delivery and security specialist F5 has bought MantisNet, a provider of real-time network observability and network intelligence, the company announced on Wednesday.

With the addition of Reston, Va.-based MantisNet’s technology, telecom providers, as well as enterprise and government customers, will be able to monitor east–west traffic across cloud-native and 5G environments at scale and detect and respond to network-level issues and security threats in real time, according to Seattle-based F5.

With the deal now closed, MantisNet’s Extended Berkeley Packet Filter (eBPF)-powered, agentless technology will be integrated into F5 ‘s flagship Application Delivery and Security Platform (ADSP) for greater visibility into network traffic, while eliminating the need for more agents that consume resources and add operational complexity, F5 added.

The two companies did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.

“When integrated into the F5 ADSP, MantisNet capabilities will enable organizations of all kinds, from telecom operators and enterprises, to public sector agencies and cloud and managed service providers, to confidently transition to cloud-native architectures while maintaining deep operational visibility, automation, and security,” said Ahmed Guetari, vice president and general manager, service providers for F5, in his blog post on the acquisition.

Cloud-native network functions (CNFs) have emerged as a powerful way to modernize operations, and while CNFs offer unmatched flexibility and resilience for today’s dynamic digital landscapes, they come with challenges, especially when it comes to monitoring and securing ephemeral, encrypted traffic within containerized environments, F5 said.

Guetari added that traditional monitoring tools aren’t built to track the transient and encrypted nature of container traffic.

“This is precisely where MantisNet delivers game-changing value. Leveraging eBPF-powered kernel-level telemetry, MantisNet provides real-time insights into encrypted protocol activity, allowing organizations to gain visibility into even the most elusive traffic, all without performance overhead,” he said in his blog post.

MantisNet’s capabilities will be injected into a number of F5’s offerings that are now part of the ADSP, including F5 BIG-IP Next for Kubernetes, BIG-IP DNS, F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager, F5 BIG-IP Policy Enforcement Manager and BIG-IP Carrier-Grade Network Address Translation, the company said.

Privately-held MantisNet, also known as Mantis Networks LLC, has between 11-50 employees and was founded in 2013, according to Crunchbase.