Extended BPF emerged in the last decade as a way to interact with the Linux kernel via a sandboxed runtime layer without needing to modify the kernel itself. Now widely adopted across the industry, eBPF makes it possible to see what’s happening at kernel level in real-time, critical to cloud monitoring and security in Kubernetes environments.
Alongside AI automation, Hypershield leans heavily on Isovalent’s Cilium and eBPF. For customers, this is optimistic because Cilium is seen as highly capable.
Cisco appears committed to building a platform stack from bottom to top. Earlier this year it entered into a partnership with Nvidia, which gives it access to that company’s dominant position in underlying AI hardware and software stack that makes it possible.
Nevertheless, Cisco still has many well-established rivals in the cloud security and platform market and it’s not yet clear what its unique selling point will be when going head-to-head technologically. The Cisco Security Cloud is simply too new even if Hypershield could turn out to be an important part of the answer.
For now, Hypershield is aimed at Linux infrastructure, but the company said it would be available for other environments in the future without specifying a timeline. Hypershield is expected to make it into the hands of customers in late July or early August.
