This post coauthored by HPE Distinguished Technologists John Spiegel and Jaye Tillson, HPE field CTO
On the last day of Black Hat, Jaye Tillson told me “I should have never trusted you.” The same is true in cybersecurity—trust but verify can no longer be the strategy. As we enter the second half of the decade, the point of view we saw at Black Hat was “never trust, always verify.” While AI was the hot topic, the second most discussed item was a throwback to a bygone era: network segmentation. What is driving that? The need to pivot to the framework called zero trust. More on that later…
Black Hat 2024 was the second major cyber security conference of the year. Innovative startups who did not make a splash at RSA doubled down in Las Vegas. As a result, the conference floor was a labyrinth of cutting-edge technology solutions, each vendor vying for attention from hundreds of people with exciting-looking booths and bucketloads of cool swag. The sheer volume of innovation was overwhelming—from the latest endpoint protection tools to groundbreaking cloud security platforms. In between, people were meeting. Maybe a chance IRL meeting or someone they not seen in years. The point was to network and exchange ideas with fellow cyber experts. Outside of new technology, the show was about growing the security community, a unique factor in this space. Unlike corporate events in other business spheres, sharing what works and what does not work is critical to securing our digital future.
HPE Aruba Networking had a strong presence at the event, showcasing our latest innovations. Announcements included Network Detect and Response (NDR) from HPE Aruba Networking Central, which enables the enterprise to secure challenging IOT systems in a straightforward manner. The NDR solution leverages telemetry from the Central data lake to train and deploy AI models to detect unusual activities in vulnerable IoT devices. Based on this, it will suggest policy changes and allow the admin to test out changes on a digital twin to determine the impacts of possible changes before they are placed into production. For more on this read the press release.
The other major announcement was SSE local edge. This feature extends the HPE Aruba Networking SSE solution to now include securing the campus and branch network, similar to what the industry has been doing with ZTNA remote access solutions. This is the first step in many to come around a technology movement called Universal Zero Trust, which was discussed in the networking technology keynote at HPE Discover. It you want to learn more, watch the keynote.
The Field CTO team was also out and about at Black Hat. The highlights included multiple analyst discussions on SASE, SSE and cyber platforms vs best of breed solutions. Kudos for to the Omdia team for holding a summit at Black Hat and meeting with several customers who are progressing on their SASE journey. ZTNA and VPN gateway replacement was the most common starting point. The discussion is now turning to SWG and SDWAN.
Another highlight of the conference was hosting three live episodes of the SSE Forum’s "The Edge" podcast. The team invited industry experts to share their perspectives on the evolving threat landscape, talking about hot topics such as zero trust, AI, and ransomware, universal ZTNA and coffee shop networking, just to name a few. We also get into another fierce topic, pizza toppings!! The eternal debate about pineapple pizza brewed up in our third podcast. If you want to learn why Jaye has imposed a zero-trust strategy on John, check out our last live episode from Black Hat!! If you are interested listening to the Live from Black Hat podcasts, here is the link.
The evenings at Black Hat always provide a welcome respite from the conference's frenetic pace and this year didn't disappoint. Las Vegas delivered on its promise of world-class entertainment and dining. These occasions allowed for a more relaxed environment for open discussion and sharing of stories offering the chance to meet new people and build long-lasting friendships. It was essential to balance the intense focus on cybersecurity with moments of respite from the show crowds to recharge our batteries and connect on a personal level.
As the dust settles on another Black Hat, it's clear the industry is at a pivotal moment. The convergence of technologies like AI and Zero Trust is creating unprecedented opportunities, but it also presents new challenges which we need to face head-on. Our ability to adapt and innovate will be crucial for our organizations to stay ahead of the curve. What changes are in store for the next 12 months? We will know at Black Hat 2025!
