When Illumio Inc. announced new funding of $125 million last month, the investment (which was led by J.P. Morgan) gave further credibility to a growing field in computer security known as micro-segmentation. Illumio filters data access policies through its software products based on the belief that security controls should move with workloads and applications while keeping exposure small.

“You should make your security decision based on what you’re trying to do, not on what infrastructure you’re in,” said Alan Cohen (pictured), chief commercial officer at Illumio Inc.

Cohen visited theCUBE, SiliconANGLE’s mobile livestreaming studio, and answered questions from hosts Dave Vellante (@dvellante) and Stu Miniman (@stu) during Nutanix.NEXT US 2017 in Washington, D.C. They discussed Illumio’s recent funding, the philosophy behind micro-segmentation and an imbalance in security investment for information technology. (* Disclosure below.)

Illumio plans to use its Series D round to finance expansion into new markets, a move designed to also strengthen global sales, marketing and support. “You’re going to see a lot of geographic expansion of the company,” said Cohen, who also said the firm would continue an already hefty investment in research and development.

Watertight compartments are the key

The company has been gaining traction from an approach that essentially places small, “watertight” compartments around data down to the workload or process level, Cohen explained.

“The challenge in cyber is lateral spread,” Cohen said. “If I compromise one server, one workload, it flies through the environment, so you have to keep closing those doors from a security point of view.”

Today’s current investment of $100 billion in security compared to the $3 trillion IT market was a mistake, according to Cohen. “I would say people are highly under-invested in security. I think the pie should be five times bigger,” he stated.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Nutanix .NEXT US 2017 event. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Nutanix .NEXT US. Neither Nutanix Inc. nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE