Big Switch Networks and cybersecurity company Cyphort have brought together their Big Tap Monitoring Fabric and Advanced Threat Defense Platform, respectively, to give customers what they are saying is the first "software-based, advanced threat detection, and software-defined networking (SDN) defense" product.

The companies are showing off the results this week at the RSA Conference in San Francisco.

A recent Enterprise Strategy Group report preceded the joint announcement, saying that although SDN is relatively new, industry professionals are interested in bringing it to security.

Cyphort's Advanced Threat Defense Platform allows security teams to use threat priority-based mitigation methods to gauge the existence and severity of attacks. With its platform, Cyphort provides greater visibility, flexibility, and scalability across the entire network. It combines Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) detection with lateral movement — an industry first, according to the company.

Version 3.3 of the Advanced Threat Defense Platform features malware lateral-movement detection, giving customers a real-time look at attacks even as they move through an organization. The approach to security breaks new ground because it provides a clear understanding of impact while limiting false positives and negatives, says Jeremy Carlson, senior director of business development at Cyphort.

With Big Switch's Big Tap Monitoring Fabric, customers can cheaply tap every rack, giving deeper insight to data center traffic. Big Tap then collects, filters, and routes the right flow to security monitoring tools, which, with this new announcement, will include the Cyphort Advanced Threat Defense Platform.