PP105: Cybercrime Has Gone Industrial: Insights from HPE Threat Labs (Sponsored)

In this sponsored episode of Packet Protector, Drew Connery-Murray and JJ sit down with Mundani Ajali, VP of Product Management for SASE and Security at HPE Networking, to discuss the newly launched HPE Threat Labs—born from the integration of Juniper Networks’ and Aruba Networking’s threat research teams. Ajali emphasizes the growing industrialization of cybercrime, where AI is accelerating attacks, enabling fewer humans to launch large-scale threats. He highlights the alarming persistence of unpatched systems, some over a decade old, and the dangers of dormant threats like USB-borne malware. The conversation explores how telemetry from cloud-connected infrastructure, device fingerprinting, and behavioral analytics are transforming security visibility. Ajali stresses the importance of knowing what’s on your network before securing it, advocating for a shift from feature-driven to intent-based network architecture. He also critiques the overuse of acronyms and the need to bridge the gap between NetOps and SecOps by unifying tooling and context. The episode concludes with a call to action: prioritize patching and leverage unified visibility to combat modern threats. Key takeaways include: 1) Patching is still the #1 defense against known threats; 2) AI is making cybercrime more efficient, not eliminating the need for human oversight; 3) Device fingerprinting via behavioral analytics is essential for identifying IoT and shadow devices; 4) Zero Trust is a concept, not a product—focus on intent, not just technology; 5) Unify NetOps and SecOps by sharing context and reducing tool sprawl; 6) Visibility through telemetry is more valuable than any single feature; 7) The future of security lies in AI-driven intent-based configuration; 8) Acronyms like NAC and ZT&A obscure meaning—redefine them around core purpose.