Assessing Cisco's Hypershield: A Step Forward or Just Another Step?

Written by our MD, Phil Lees.

This week, I have been bombarded with questions about Cisco Hypershield. It would seem the Cisco marketing machine has certainly hit a home run on this one. Due to the mountain of interest, we have had at WhiteSpider, and the hot debate within the technology team with some very polar opinions, I thought I’d offer up my 2 cents. I must caveat this blog by saying, this is simply my opinion, and doesn’t necessarily reflect the opinion of WhiteSpider.

Cybersecurity is in a whirlwind of innovation currently, and AI is in every single conversation, so it’s no surprise that Cisco’s Hypershield has dropped into the arena with a certain flourish that merits a pause and a ponder. As I mentioned above, it’s been quite the conversation piece here at WhiteSpider, and it seems to have piqued the interest with many of our customers, with my inbox bearing the brunt of a deluge of queries regarding its stance in the AI-driven security marathon. With nods to the venerable Cisco Security Agent (come on, who didn’t love CSA!) and the Tetration endpoint agent (wasn’t so keen), Hypershield promises a significant stride forward, but let's dissect this with a critical, albeit appreciative, eye.

Today’s Tech: A Solid, if Familiar, Foundation

Harnessing the prowess of eBPF for application insight and the Tesseract Security Agent for policy management, Hypershield showcases what one might call an evolution, not necessarily a revolution, but here's what we've got:

• In-Depth Visibility: Hypershield’s depth of insight into application behaviour is admirable, reminiscent of the rigour we saw with CSA.
• Micro-segmentation: On the segmentation front, Hypershield does seem to flex its muscles somewhat, though how this plays out in practice remains to be seen.
• AI-Aided Vigilance: In terms of anomaly detection, leveraging AI is the new norm, and Hypershield is stepping into that ring with confidence (certainly beats trawling through Netflow and IPFIX looking for anomalies).

Yet, integrating hardware embedded DPUs and perfecting distributed security still sits on the horizon, suggesting that Hypershield, while promising much, is still very much a work in progress.

The Human Touch: Still Irreplaceable

The human factor in cybersecurity remains pivotal, in more ways than one, and Hypershield does not seem to contest that:

• Policy Crafting: Human intellect still reigns supreme when it comes to drafting nuanced security policies. Hypershield seems to require this human touch, as any sensible system should.
• AI Oversight: No AI is infallible, and human experts remain the sentinels that must confirm or contest AI decisions.
• Tackling Incidents: When complexity arises, it is the human strategist that navigates the labyrinth to resolution, not the AI.

The AI as a Target: A Nuanced Debate

As AI takes centre stage in security strategies, it naturally becomes a target for attackers—a twist in the cybersecurity narrative that Hypershield must prepare to confront:

• Data Poisoning: A reality check for AI-dependant defences; the potential for manipulated data sets could be Hypershield's Achilles heel.
• Adversarial Craft: Cunningly designed inputs to exploit AI’s decision trees are a genuine threat, and Hypershield’s prowess here is yet to be battle-tested.
• AI's Blind Spots: The intrinsic complexities of AI could harbour vulnerabilities, which demands a vigilant, ever-adapting security stance.

Under the Hood: Hypershield's Architecture

Peering into the bowels of Hypershield, one finds an array of enforcement options and a nod to policy centralisation that aims to smooth out the wrinkles of security management. The concept of a dual dataplane offers some comfort against the disruption of updates, though the real-world efficacy of such an approach invites a watchful eye. When this was discussed in the office, the first comment was “oh great, two control plane attack vectors now instead of one”, why are techies so cynical!

Autonomous Segmentation: Not Quite 'Set It and Forget It'

Autonomous segmentation appears to be a crown jewel in Hypershield's offering, facilitating a more self-regulating network defence. The practice of continuous learning and adaptive baselining seems promising, though the degree of human oversight required to refine this could be significant, I guess this remains to be seen.

Patchwork Perils: A Smart, Yet Unproven Solution

In the quagmire of vulnerability management, Hypershield pitches a vision of seamless integration with vulnerability management tools, positing a proactive defence against the perennial race against exploits. This theoretical framework certainly has potential, but the killer here would be delivering this in a multi-vendor environment, not everything is Cisco, right?

In Summary: A Tentatively Optimistic View

Hypershield, with its genetic lineage tracing back to the reliable CSA, certainly makes a compelling case for its place in the evolution of Cisco’s security offerings. As a technological sceptic who’s witnessed the cyclical rise and fall of security 'silver bullets', I proffer a cautious endorsement. It's imperative that we appraise Hypershield’s capabilities judiciously, balancing our enthusiasm for AI's potential with a clear acknowledgement of its limitations.

For those heavily involved the massively evolving threat landscape (remember AI is the poacher and gamekeeper), Hypershield appears to be a toolset worth considering. Yet, it is through real-world application and the scrutiny of independent analysis that we will discern whether Cisco's latest foray is the harbinger of a cybersecurity renaissance or simply a signpost along a well-trodden path. As with any technology in its youth, the story of Hypershield will be written by those who choose to wield it and, more importantly, by those who must defend against those who would outwit it.