ESET launches Cloud Workload Protection and AI enhancements for ESET PROTECT customers

ESET launched ESET Cloud Workload Protection as part of a comprehensive update for its ESET PROTECT Platform. Announced at RSAC 2026, this new module helps customers to move beyond endpoints and servers to cover cloud workloads, significantly enriching telemetry for detection and response while consolidating security management across endpoint and cloud environments inside a single pane of glass. 

“Many businesses, especially those in the midmarket, as well as MSPs, have been steadily adopting cloud features such as virtual machines to enhance their productivity,” said Michal Jankech, Vice President, Enterprise & SMB/MSP at ESET. “About 80% of organisations regard the public cloud as crucial for their digital business initiatives. With ESET Cloud Workload Protection, we have reduced the attack surface for customers by extending our protection to virtual machines running in AWS, Azure, and GCP environments.”  

ESET’s Cloud Workload Protection module protects virtual machines in public cloud environments, ingesting cloud VM data into the ESET PROTECT XDR Platform to gain extended visibility. While competitors often offer cloud workload protection as a stand-alone offering, ESET includes it at no additional cost for ESET PROTECT customers (except ESET PROTECT Entry).

With the average cost of a public cloud data breach amounting to a striking $5.17 million per incident—the highest among all environments, this new module cuts complexity with AI-driven automation and gives customers a richer set of tools to respond to threats at every stage of an attack. Known for being lightweight, the module helps IT managers to validate their controls and generate audit evidence for regulatory frameworks such as NIST, CIS, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and others.

Additional improvements to ESET PROTECT include:

• New AI reporting in ESET LiveGuard Advanced, which makes the lives of security specialists easier—providing behavioral reports that detail the actions and characteristics of incidents analysed by ESET’s cloud sandbox, and autonomous remediation. For those with XDR-enabled subscriptions, these reports are enhanced with AI-generated summaries that simplify complex findings. 
• Improved Incident Graphs and Advanced Investigations for EDR and XDR customers that provides a clear visual representation of each incident—enabling security teams to quickly understand the attack, identify the initial entry point, and track its progression over time. Incidents now include richer contextual insights, such as identity-related information, along with overall quality improvements that support faster, more effective investigation and response. Advanced Search features enable fast and flexible investigation across security indicators and related events from multiple security perimeters.
• ESET AI Advisor has been added to the ESET PROTECT console to improve usability and to simplify access to this assistant, previously included only in a dedicated ESET Inspect Incidents section.

For more information about ESET PROTECT, visit ESET’s website. To find out how these products fared in independent testing, visit MITRE and AV-Comparatives.