Aviz details next-gen DPI engine for AI traffic visibility

Aviz has introduced a new Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) engine within its Aviz Service Node (ASN) to address challenges in monitoring encrypted and API-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) traffic, which traditional Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) tools fail to analyze effectively, creating risks in enterprise IT and security environments.

Research Overview

Enterprises are increasingly adopting AI technologies, with projections indicating that a large portion of applications will incorporate conversational AI by 2024, and substantial use of unauthorized AI tools by employees is expected. Reports suggest that many enterprise AI applications pose high risk, with a significant share of data transmitted to unsanctioned AI tools. Security professionals anticipate frequent AI-driven attacks, highlighting a growing need for improved visibility and control in complex hybrid networks.

Traditional monitoring systems and legacy Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) approaches, which rely on fixed ports and signatures, are insufficient for encrypted or dynamic API-driven AI traffic. This inadequacy results in visibility gaps that hinder effective governance and security.

Threat Analysis

Shadow AI refers to AI applications and APIs utilized without centralized approval or oversight, often including tools such as ChatGPT and open-source AI systems adopted informally by employees. These shadow AI tools generate blind spots that can expose enterprises to data privacy violations, compliance breaches, intellectual property risks, and expanded attack surfaces through prompt manipulation.

Shadow AI traffic traverses multiple network environments, including remote offices, edge nodes, and clouds, complicating detection efforts and circumventing existing monitoring methods.

Technical Breakdown

The Aviz Service Node incorporates a next-generation DPI engine designed for current AI traffic characteristics, such as encryption and API-driven data flows. This engine extends beyond traditional header inspection to include payload and contextual metadata analysis, enabling identification of both sanctioned and unauthorized AI applications across various network segments.

Collected telemetry is forwarded to the Aviz Elastic Node, which provides centralized analytics and visualization capabilities. This setup allows network and security teams to observe AI traffic and user activity in near real-time through unified dashboards.

Operational Impact

By deploying the Aviz Service Node, organizations can consolidate oversight of AI traffic, reducing visibility gaps related to shadow AI and enhancing enforcement of IT governance policies. The combined use of real-time packet analysis and elastic-scale analytics supports management of AI utilization across heterogeneous environments.

This approach facilitates compliance and security efforts by integrating deeper application awareness into enterprise monitoring infrastructures previously challenged by encrypted and dynamic AI traffic.

The Aviz next-generation DPI engine thus offers a tailored solution to the evolving network observability needs prompted by widespread AI integration.

This Blog Signals brief provides a fact-based summary of the Aviz blog post, emphasizing the vendor's approach to improving enterprise visibility into AI-related network activity.