Rick Miles, VP of Product at Cisco and former military cybersecurity operator, explains the shift from static firewalls to distributed "firewalling." He highlights the 6100 series hardware leap, eBPF-powered visibility and virtual patching, and the risks around prompt injection and poisoned models. He outlines algorithmic red teaming and the rise of agentic security as a force multiplier for engineers.
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volunteer_activism ADVICE
Use Encrypted Visibility Instead Of Always Decrypting
Inspect encrypted traffic with an encrypted visibility engine to flag suspicious flows without full decryption.
Cisco's encrypted visibility engine analyzes TLS handshakes and flow attributes to estimate risk and surface suspicious traffic.
insights INSIGHT
eBPF Enables Virtual Patching In Workloads
eBPF can act as a live virtual patch inside workloads, removing exploit vectors without breaking applications.
Rick shows eBPF deployed in Linux/Kubernetes to shield vulnerabilities during the months-long patching window.
insights INSIGHT
Switches Become Distributed Segmentation Points
Embedding firewalling into switches closes east-west blind spots by making each switch port a high-throughput segmentation point.
Rick Miles says top-of-rack switches can enforce L3/L4 segmentation and shine a flashlight into previously dark east-west traffic.
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Thank you to Cisco for sponsoring this video and sponsoring my trip to Cisco Live Amsterdam 2026.
In this interview, Cisco VP Rick Miles breaks down the evolution of the
firewall, the massive hardware leap of the 6100 series, and how AI agents and eBPF are completely reshaping the industry. Whether you're trying to secure AI models against prompt injection or wondering if AI will replace your networking job by 2030, this is the technical reality check every engineer needs to hear right now.
Has the role of the traditional firewall changed? Rick Miles, VP of Product at Cisco, joins David Bombal at Cisco Live EMEA to reveal the massive architectural shift from static "firewalls" to dynamic "firewalling."
This deep-dive interview covers the incredible specs of the new Cisco Secure Firewall 6100 series—boasting 80% less space, 60% less power, and up to 8 Terabits of clustered throughput in a 2RU form factor. We also explore how eBPF is revolutionizing deep visibility and virtual patching directly at the application layer, moving security beyond the edge.
But hardware is only half the story. We also break down the new "Wild West" of AI cybersecurity. Learn how to secure the network against prompt injection, poisoned AI models, and unsecured Model Context Protocols (MCP). Finally, Rick shares his vision for 2030: "Agentic" security. Will AI agents replace network engineers, or will they become the ultimate force multiplier for your career?
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// MENU //
0:00 - Coming Up
0:19 - Introduction
01:17 - Are Firewalls Dead?
04:18 - Cisco and Firewalls
08:30 - Hyperscalers vs Neo-Clouds vs Enterprises
10:46 - EBPF and Switches as Firewalls
14:32 - Managing your Hybrid Mesh Firewall
16:20 - Cisco’s Compatibility with other Firewalls
17:40 - Identity within Systems
19:05 - More on Hybrid Mesh Firewall
19:53 - Model Context Protocol and Security
23:57 - The Future of “Firewalling”
25:15 - The Effect of Agentic AI
26:57 - Will AI take all our Jobs?
27:56 - Should you get into Cyber Security?
28:48 - Cool Story about Firewall
30:30 - Talk to your Younger Self
32:32 - Does AI give Advantage to Attackers?
33:09 - Outro
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Disclaimer: This video is for educational purposes only.
#firewall #cisco #cybersecurity
David Bombal