IBM, Red Hat and Palo Alto Networks are linking Palo Alto’s Prisma virtual patching with Red Hat’s Project Lightwell to spot and shield against vulnerabilities in open-source software. Prisma’s network-based virtual patches can be deployed the same day a flaw is confirmed, cutting the window between discovery and defense from weeks to minutes. Meanwhile, Project Lightwell—part of IBM and Red Hat’s $5 billion Project Lighthouse—acts as a “trusted enterprise clearinghouse,” using AI to validate and test fixes across massive volumes of open-source code and deliver secure patches via subscription. That clearinghouse draws on vulnerability intelligence from all three companies to feed threat detection and remediation. Its goal is to let enterprises plug virtual protections into their existing build pipelines before vendor fixes arrive. Early users include Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Mastercard, Visa and others. Together they’ll get preemptive coverage across open-source libraries, commercial applications, OT environments and IoT devices, plus anonymized telemetry on real-world exploits. Beyond code patches, IBM and Palo Alto have already teamed on quantum-safe readiness and AI risk assessments. This latest push adds a layer of network defense that keeps business running uninterrupted while permanent fixes move through testing and deployment. The partners also plan secure info-sharing processes so software vendors and security teams can accelerate protection development.