Enterprise technology giant Cisco has unveiled a new security architecture product which uses AI to protect clouds, data centres and IT environments.
HyperShield, announced on Thursday (18 April), uses AI to protect devices and data across public and private physical locations, clouds and data centres, according to the company.
The new product follows Cisco’s $28bn acquisition of cybersecurity company Splunk in 2023.
According to Global Data analyst, Priya Toppo, the acquisition underlined Cisco’s strategy to shift the company from hardware-centric to software-centric.
“The acquisition of Splunk will allow Cisco to rapidly strengthen its competitive landscape, especially in the cybersecurity market where it expects to gain a critical advantage by acquiring the leading security analytics platform in the market along with a loyal customer base,” Toppo wrote in a September 2023 blog post.
HyperShield’s launch also highlights the next step in Cisco’s partnership with Nvidia on managing AI infrastructure.
AI in cybersecurity is growing
An increasing number of technology companies are using AI in their cybersecurity tools. Tech giants like Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud are currently using the emerging technology to accelerate threat detection, better assess risk and improve vulnerability management.
Neil Thacker, EMEA and LATAM CISO for security software company Netskope, told Verdict that AI is needed to counter AI attacks.
“In order to counter AI, you have to use AI. There always has to be systems in place,” Thacker said.
“Many technology vendors have been powering their cybersecurity technology with machine learning and AI,” he said. “It really is the only fast and effective resource we have in relation to new-age cyberattacks because attackers also have AI now.”
According to GlobalData’s Thematic Research: Cybersecurity 2023 report, technology vendors will be following suit from hyperscalers that have already added AI into their defence arsenal.
Automating incident response with AI makes it easier to resolve more incidents quickly, reducing the organisation’s downtime and resources required to deal with IT security, according to the report.
