Deutsche Telekom and Akamai Forge Alliance to Defend Europe's Core

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. & BONN, Germany – January 21, 2026 – In a significant move to reinforce Europe’s digital defenses, Deutsche Telekom Security is expanding its cybersecurity offerings by integrating advanced security services from Akamai. The collaboration, announced today, leverages Akamai’s enhanced Security Certified Service Provider programs to deliver sophisticated API security and microsegmentation solutions aimed squarely at the continent's most critical sectors, including finance, insurance, public services, and critical infrastructure.

This partnership arrives at a pivotal moment, as organizations grapple with an increasingly complex and hostile digital environment. By combining Akamai's cutting-edge technology with Deutsche Telekom Security's extensive managed services expertise and deep market presence, the initiative aims to provide a new bulwark against a rising tide of cyber threats that target the very heart of the digital economy.

Confronting an Unprecedented Wave of API Attacks

The urgency behind this collaboration is underscored by alarming new data on the evolving threat landscape. According to a 2025 Akamai State of the Internet (SOTI) report, cybercriminals launched a staggering 150 billion attacks against Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) between January 2023 and December 2024. These digital gateways, which allow different software applications to communicate, have become the primary connective tissue of modern business but also a primary vector for attack.

This explosion in API-targeted threats is a direct consequence of digital transformation and what experts call "API sprawl." As companies deploy more services in the cloud and build interconnected applications, the number of APIs skyrockets, dramatically expanding the potential attack surface. Many of these APIs lack the robust security controls necessary to protect the sensitive data they handle, creating vulnerabilities that attackers are quick to exploit. Common attack methods, such as Broken Object Level Authorization (BOLA), allow threat actors to bypass weak permissions and access data they should not be able to see, leading to significant data breaches, financial losses, and severe reputational damage.

“We’re seeing great results with Akamai’s enhanced Security Certified Service Provider programs,” said Christian Günther, Head of Sales Major Accounts at Deutsche Telekom Security. “As an early adopter, we’re providing our customers even better API security and software-defined segmentation support. This helps them stay secure and compliant with regulations, even in a dynamic cybersecurity landscape that’s becoming increasingly complex.”

A New Blueprint for Digital Resilience

To counter these threats, the partnership focuses on two critical areas of modern cybersecurity: comprehensive API security and microsegmentation. Through the new arrangement, Deutsche Telekom Security will deliver proactive, end-to-end management of the entire API security lifecycle. This includes continuous monitoring, expert security incident management, and proactive API security testing to identify and remediate vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.

The second pillar of the offering is the deployment and management of Akamai Guardicore Segmentation. Microsegmentation is a foundational technique for building a Zero Trust security architecture. It works by dividing a network into small, isolated segments, down to the individual workload level. This approach drastically limits an attacker's ability to move laterally across a network after an initial breach, effectively containing threats and minimizing their impact. While its value is widely recognized, adoption has been slow; industry reports indicate that while 70% of professionals see it as essential, only a fraction have successfully implemented it due to its perceived complexity and the resources required.

This is where the managed services model proves its worth. Deutsche Telekom Security will provide specialized services for Akamai Guardicore environments, including administration, incident management, and compliance audits, removing the heavy lifting for clients. By offering these capabilities as a managed service, the partnership makes best-in-class security accessible to organizations that lack the internal expertise or resources to implement and manage such complex solutions on their own.

Securing Europe’s Critical Sectors Amid Regulatory Pressure

The collaboration is particularly significant for organizations operating within Europe's highly regulated industries. New and forthcoming mandates like the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and the NIS2 Directive are placing unprecedented pressure on financial institutions and critical infrastructure providers to bolster their cyber defenses.

DORA, which takes full effect in 2025, explicitly calls for measures that enhance breach containment and operational resilience, making microsegmentation a critical tool for compliance. By restricting the blast radius of an attack, segmentation directly addresses the act's core requirements. Likewise, the expanded scope of the NIS2 Directive compels a broader range of entities to adopt robust cybersecurity measures and report incidents swiftly.

Deutsche Telekom Security’s ability to offer these advanced security services on a sovereign cloud platform is another key differentiator. For European clients, particularly in the public and financial sectors, data sovereignty is not just a preference but often a legal requirement. Ensuring that sensitive data and security operations remain within a specific jurisdiction helps organizations meet strict compliance standards like GDPR while maintaining control over their information.

The practical impact of this approach has already been demonstrated. Deutsche Telekom Security recently implemented Akamai’s software-defined segmentation solution for a major state bank in Germany, a project that was critical to securing the bank’s sensitive infrastructure and ensuring full compliance with stringent regulatory demands.

“We are pleased that Deutsche Telekom Security is already delivering on the benefits of our enhanced Security Certified Service Provider programs to expand their cybersecurity service offerings, particularly for organizations in sensitive sectors that require the highest levels of security and data sovereignty,” said Paul Joseph, Executive Vice President, Global Sales and Services at Akamai. By strengthening its portfolio with these advanced capabilities, Deutsche Telekom Security is better positioned to help businesses navigate the treacherous cyber landscape, protect their most valuable assets, and maintain focus on their core objectives.