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Cisco Security Cloud Vision Comes to Life, Transforming Enterprise Defenses

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With unified solutions across its security portfolio, Cisco brings enhanced security posture to customers fueled by AI and industry partnerships

News Summary

Industry-first Cisco Hypershield bolsters hardware acceleration to analyze and respond to anomalies in application and network behavior, now supporting AMD Pensando Data Processing Units (DPUs) to be available from Cisco’s Unified Computing System (UCS) servers and other leading vendors, and in future service-accelerated switching platforms.Best-in-class Cisco Secure Firewall introduces the new Firewall 1200 Series, delivering up to three times the performance of comparable firewalls and eliminating the need to have multiple appliances for switches, routers and firewalls at enterprise branch locations.New, AI-native management architecture, Security Cloud Control, will configure, manage and monitor the entire Cisco Security Cloud, beginning now with Cisco’s network security solutions.New sources of Cisco telemetry through technical add-ons for Splunk will deliver unparalleled visibility to power the SOC of the Future.

LAS VEGAS, June 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — CISCO LIVE US 2024 — Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), the leader in enterprise networking and security, today announced new capabilities across the Cisco Security Cloud that extend its security architecture in the age of AI. With Cisco’s unified, AI-driven, cross-domain security platform, customers will experience the balance of power tipping in favor of the defenders.

“Cisco Security has delivered more innovation in the past year than in the previous decade combined, and this year will be multiples of what we delivered last year,” said Jeetu Patel, Executive Vice President and General Manager for Security and Collaboration at Cisco.  Our announcements today are helping us realize the vision of Cisco Security Cloud, bringing our customers a true security platform for an increasingly complex and hyper distributed world. Bolstered by our partnerships with other titans in the industry, strategic acquisitions and a commitment to an open ecosystem, we are reimagining security for our customers.”  

Cisco Delivers on Its Vision to Melt Security into the Network
In April 2024, Cisco announced Cisco Hypershield, a brand new security architecture designed to defend modern, AI-scale data centers. Architected to seamlessly incorporate new enforcement points into its fabric, Hypershield embeds security enforcement in virtual machines or Kubernetes clusters in public clouds using an open-source technology called eBPF. It is also architected to insert security enforcement into advanced silicon in servers and networking devices such as switches. Today, Cisco is taking a big step forward towards realizing its vision by announcing Cisco Hypershield support for AMD Pensando DPUs, with targeted availability in Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) servers and from other leading server vendors by the end of 2024. 

“We are thrilled to collaborate with Cisco to integrate AMD Pensando DPUs with Cisco Hypershield. This partnership brings together AMD’s cutting-edge hardware acceleration technology and Cisco’s advanced security solutions, enabling enterprises to achieve unparalleled network security performance and flexibility,” said Soni Jiandani, General Manager, Networking Technology and Solutions Group, AMD. “By leveraging our DPUs in customer servers or in future Cisco networking platforms, Hypershield users can enjoy high-capacity throughput and intelligent policy enforcement without compromising on workload performance. This collaboration represents a significant step forward in delivering robust, scalable, and efficient security solutions for private cloud environments.”

Building on this momentum, Cisco is also announcing support for Intel infrastructure processing units (IPUs) with availability to be announced in the future.

“We are pleased with the advancement of our collaboration with Cisco that combines the cutting-edge infrastructure acceleration of Intel IPUs with the breakthrough Cisco Hypershield architecture,” said Pere Monclus, Chief Technology Officer, Network and Edge Group at Intel. “This powerful combination marks a significant leap forward, helping to enable enterprises to realize an AI-driven, distributed security architecture that seamlessly goes from the cloud, to datacenters, to the edge with high performance and energy efficiency.”

The Best Next Generation Firewall is Now Even Better
For the second year running, SE Labs named the Cisco Secure Firewall the best next generation firewall. Today, Cisco is advancing its market leadership with the introduction of the Cisco Firewall 1200 Series, delivering up to three times the performance of comparable competitive firewalls. The 1200 Series is a new family of SD-WAN enabled, high-performing, compact firewall security appliances that eliminate the need to have multiple appliances for switches, routers and firewalls at enterprise branch locations. The first models in the series are targeted for availability in October 2024.

Cisco is also announcing the new software 7.6 version of Firewall Threat Defense (FTD), available for all of Cisco’s physical and virtual firewalls. FTD 7.6 not only enhances security by using AI to prevent zero-day threats and extends application control to over 70 generative AI apps to secure sensitive information but also streamlines branch network rollouts with pre-built SD-WAN and firewall templates and supports zero-touch provisioning.

Taking another giant leap, Cisco is introducing Cisco Security Cloud Control to unify management for the Cisco Security Cloud, beginning with its network security fabric including Cisco Secure Firewall. Going beyond AI assistants, Security Cloud Control delivers an AI-native approach to proactively surface actionable insights and automate resolution across hybrid environments. Customers benefit from simpler, more streamlined policies while getting the most out of their Cisco Security investment with optimal configuration. Unified management with Security Cloud Control is targeted for initial availability in September 2024 with support for Secure Firewall Threat Defense, Secure Firewall ASA, Multicloud Defense, and Hypershield.  

“We are very excited about the platform level innovation Cisco is bringing to market with the Security Cloud. Where security meets the network is a massive opportunity for our customers,” said Chris Konrad, Vice President, Global Cyber, World Wide Technology. “The promise of what Cisco Hypershield will deliver is a game-changer for how our customers will be able to close the exploit gap and achieve segmentation that adapts and learns. Along with new AI-powered management through Security Cloud Control and the quality innovation we continue to see in Cisco’s firewall portfolio, we are able to deliver an unparalleled customer outcome coupled with our services capabilities and expertise.”

Better Telemetry Means a Better Security Operations Center (SOC) of the Future 
Security companies today also need to be AI companies, and that requires data. As the creator of the network, Cisco has unmatched visibility across its customer’s IT environments. Embracing that notion and building on the recently announced integration of Cisco Extended Detection and Response (XDR) and Splunk Enterprise Security, Cisco continues to unify its portfolio of solutions to deliver the promise of the SOC of the Future, powered by Cisco’s unparalleled telemetry to better detect lateral movement. 

Splunk + Cisco Security Cloud: Security Operations teams can fully leverage the telemetry and alerts from the Cisco Security Cloud as part of a unified threat detection, investigation, and response workflow in Splunk. The new Cisco Security Cloud Technology Add-on (TA) for Splunk is a simple, reliable way to get a broad range of Cisco Security Cloud telemetry and analytics outcomes into Splunk. Cisco Duo and Secure Malware Analytics are available now, with additional sources to be added in the coming months. Cisco XDR + Cisco Meraki MX: Customers will be able to quickly and easily see and stop network-based attacks with a new, native integration coming soon to deliver network telemetry from Meraki MX appliances directly to Cisco XDR. With just a few clicks, Cisco XDR can begin analyzing network telemetry across even highly distributed organizations and correlating it with other telemetry to prioritize active threats.

“Organizations of all sizes continue to be challenged on the security front. Generative AI is enabling bad actors with new capabilities to launch widescale automated attacks, compose grammatically correct and realistic phishing emails and orchestrate deep fakes that challenge identity access management platforms. The combined power of Splunk and Cisco Security Cloud could serve as a transformative leap for defenders in mitigating collateral damage,” said Will Townsend, Vice President and Principal Analyst, Moor Insights & Strategy. “Cisco is already demonstrating early integrations of Splunk that weave advanced analytics and AI into a cloud-delivered security architecture that has the potential to level the cybersecurity playing field.”

“Network telemetry is consistently ranked in the top three most valuable security signals,” said Dave Gruber, Principal Analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group. “Native integration between Cisco XDR and Meraki MX strengthens detection and investigation capabilities, while simplifying deployment and management. This will be especially helpful for lean IT and distributed organizations. The convergence of network and security operations sets the stage for the SNOC of the Future.”

Integrated and Open Security Ecosystem
In today’s world where the threat landscape is rapidly evolving, the call from organizations for an integrated and open security ecosystem is louder than ever. Cisco Security Cloud was built to deliver better security outcomes for customers by avoiding dependence on a single vendor, optimizing instead to partner with other industry titans against a common adversary: the malicious actor.

Furthering this mission and differentiation with a robust technology ecosystem, today Cisco announced its latest collaboration with Google. Cisco is working with Google to bring browser-based threat and data protection from Chrome Enterprise to web apps secured by Cisco Secure Access. As more modern work happens on the web, a secure enterprise browser strengthens and simplifies endpoint security as part of broader zero trust initiatives.

“Cisco shares our vision for a more holistic zero trust architecture that is better for users and easier for the IT team to deploy and manage,” said Sunil Potti, General Manager and Vice President of Cloud Security at Google Cloud. “We are excited to work together to deliver a combination of browser-based and cloud-based protection that results in a secure and frictionless user experience.”

This work builds on the successful integration between Chrome Enterprise and Cisco Duo to enable end-to-end zero trust access, including device trust, strong authorization, and secure access for applications on both managed and unmanaged devices. Together, the companies are committed to delivering innovative security solutions that address today’s evolving landscape.

Cisco protects 100% percent of the Fortune 100. To learn more, visit cisco.com/go/security

Additional Resources 

Blog: Cisco Security at Cisco Live 2024: Innovating at Scale

 

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SOURCE Cisco Systems, Inc.

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FranklinWH Joins Efficiency Maine to Help Homeowners to Earn up to $600 Annually From Home Batteries

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Efficiency Maine Small Battery Program taps residential storage to support grid during peak demand

SAN JOSE, Calif., April 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — FranklinWH, a leading provider of whole-home energy management and storage systems, announced today it is participating in the Efficiency Maine Small Battery Program, allowing Maine homeowners to earn up to $600 per battery each year by supplying stored energy to the grid during peak demand periods.

The program reflects a growing use of residential energy storage systems as both backup power sources and grid resources that can generate income while helping stabilize electricity supply.

Homeowners who enroll can allow their systems to discharge energy during peak demand events, typically on weekday evenings, in exchange for annual payments.

“I work from home, so losing power really isn’t an option,” said Brian Duggan, a Maine homeowner who has used the system for four months. “There have been several community-wide outages since we installed our system, and we didn’t even notice. Our power stayed on.” Duggan said the system is a maintenance-free alternative to a generator, pairs with electric vehicle charging, and helps protect his home during winter travel.

“This is where the economics of home energy storage are heading,” said Gary Lam, CEO of FranklinWH. “Homeowners are no longer only consumers of electricity; they’re becoming active participants in the energy system. Programs such as this allow them to receive payments while strengthening the grid in their communities.”

Maine’s virtual power plant (VPP) program is administered by Efficiency Maine, which compensates homeowners for the energy their systems send back to the grid during peak events, creating a new revenue stream tied to system participation.

Efficiency Maine may call up to 60 events per year, typically lasting three hours during peak demand windows. Homeowners receive advance notice through the FranklinWH App and can opt out of individual events or unenroll at any time. During events, a reserve level is maintained to ensure power remains available for household needs.

As utilities and policymakers look for new ways to manage rising demand and grid volatility, VPP programs are expected to expand, positioning distributed home energy systems as a critical part of the solution.

About FranklinWH

FranklinWH Energy Storage is the manufacturer of the FranklinWH System, a next-generation home energy management and storage solution. Headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, FranklinWH’s team brings decades of experience across energy system design, manufacturing, sales, and installation. The company is AVL-listed with multiple financial institutions and continues to empower homeowners to achieve true energy freedom. Learn more at franklinwh.com.

Media Contact:
Media@franklinwh.com

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Marelli highlights vehicle dynamics technologies as a competitive advantage, elevating safety, comfort and performance, at Auto China 2026

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The company will introduce new advanced suspension solutions such as the new Active Camber and the Electromechanical Lifter, enabling real-time control of wheel angle and vehicle heightAlso in the spotlight, the Hybrid Electromechanical Suspensions, a new architecture combining full-active actuator technology and best-in-class semi-active dampers to deliver a high-end driving experience while maintaining cost efficiency.

SAITAMA, Japan, April 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — At Auto China 2026 in Beijing (April 24-May 3), Marelli, a global technology partner to the automotive industry, will highlight how vehicle dynamics and advanced suspension technologies are becoming increasingly central to vehicle safety, performance, user experience, comfort and brand differentiation, also supporting the evolution toward Software-Defined Vehicles.
In this perspective, at booth n. W2B08 in Hall W2 in the New China International Exhibition Center (NCIEC), as a relevant part of its wider portfolio of solutions for different vehicle domains, the company will showcase its latest suspension and chassis innovations, suchas the new Active Camber, the Electromechanical Lifter and the Hybrid Electromechanical suspensions.

Enabled by software control and advanced electromechanical actuators, active suspension systems play a key role in determining vehicles behavior under different driving conditions, with a direct impact on overall user experience, vehicle agility and safety.

“The importance of vehicle dynamics technology spans all propulsion systems, giving automakers a decisive tool to drive vehicle distinctiveness while offering end users a wide range of personalization options.” stated Piero Monchiero, Advanced Innovation VP of Marelli’s Ride Dynamics business. “This is particularly evident in China, where customer expectations for vehicle dynamics and ride comfort continue to rise.”

Active Camber: optimal tire contact with the road to increase drivability and safety
The first relevant innovation is the Active Camber system, designed to enhance vehicle stability by correcting wheel camber in real time, improving vehicle performance and safety while delivering a more comfortable experience.

Camber is the inward or outward tilt of a wheel when viewed from the front of the vehicle. Proper camber ensures optimal tire contact with the road, improving grip for better stability, braking and acceleration, while also supporting more uniform tire wear.

The new solution presented in Beijing features an electronically controlled smart actuator with integrated sensors that continuously monitor the road surface. An intelligent control unit processes data every millisecond and automatically adjusts wheel angles in real time, adapting to driving conditions. This reduces body movement and increases grip, resulting in more precise handling and safer cornering. The solution provides a smoother experience in different conditions and contributes to extend tire life through a more even wear.

Electromechanical Lifter, smartly adapting vehicle height
Another innovation within Marelli’s suspension showcase in Beijing will be the Electromechanical Lifter, a fully electromechanical device integrated into the shock absorber that adjusts vehicle height in some specific situations. The system uses a smart actuator to deliver automatic leveling functionality, maintaining vehicle balance across varying conditions. The solution is suitable in particular for vehicle segments like sport and performance cars and sporty SUVs, addressing different use cases. Regarding sport and performance cars, it can lift the vehicle to manage garage ramps, speed bumps or snowy roads. On sporty SUVs, this technology can adjust the vehicle setup within a certain level of speed, in order to improve aerodynamics by minimizing drag. The system also facilitates easier vehicle entry and exit. The solution is oil-free, lightweight and ensures easy integration for carmakers.

New active electromechanical suspension solutions to elevate onboard experience
Designed to drive affordable innovation, the new Hybrid Electromechanical Suspension is a new suspension architecture that combines full-active actuator technology and best-in-class semi-active dampers to deliver a high-end driving experience while maintaining cost efficiency. Controlled by an Electronic Control Unit, the system integrates full-active electromechanical actuators applied to the front suspension, which provide optimal damping or self-generate reactive forces to minimize roll, pitch, yaw and vibration. These are paired with semi-active rear shock absorbers and optimize vertical dynamic response. The result is smoother driving, improved stability and enhanced safety in a variety of conditions.

This system draws from the experience of the Fully Active Electromechanical Suspension, which will also be on display at Marelli’s booth in Beijing. This oil-free solution uses four electronically controlled actuators which modulate each wheel’s suspension and damping parameters in real time, actively defining the best behavior of each vehicle’s suspension, for optimal handling and ride comfort balance. Data is processed in milliseconds to determine, through a smart algorithm, the actions required to adapt to road irregularities and driving situations, providing a “magic carpet” experience for vehicle occupants.

By enhancing stability and comfort, these two active electromechanical suspension solutions help reduce motion sickness, especially during activities like reading or using a laptop, which are expected to become more common with the rise of autonomous driving. They are also designed to recover kinetic energy, ensuring up to 80% energy efficiency compared to passive or semi-active systems.

Marelli’s booth at the Beijing Auto Show will be themed “Rooted in innovation, everywhere”, which illustrates the company’s ‘distributed’ model for high-speed innovation, to support customers wherever they need, with localized design, development, sourcing and manufacturing in China and across different regions. This approach combines local expertise and global reach to deliver affordable, scalable solutions at speed, that accelerate customers’ time-to-market. The company showcase will feature innovative solutions in several technology domains, including automotive lighting, electronics, interiors, propulsion, thermal systems, alongside a comprehensive portfolio of advanced suspension innovations.

About Marelli
Marelli is a global mobility technology supplier to the automotive sector. With a strong and established track record in innovation and manufacturing excellence, our mission is to transform the future of mobility through working with customers and partners to create a safer, greener, and better-connected world. With around 40,000 employees worldwide, the Marelli footprint includes over 150 sites globally.

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Oklahoma City Turns to ASAP Service to Speed Emergency Response

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Oklahoma City Police Department 911 Communications announced that it has gone live with ASAP Service, a standards-based solution developed by The Monitoring Association (TMA).

OKLAHOMA CITY, April 23, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ —  Oklahoma City Police Department 911 Communications announced that it has gone live with ASAP Service, a standards-based solution developed by The Monitoring Association (TMA). ASAP Service automatically and digitally delivers prioritized alarm notifications to the computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems used by emergency communications centers (ECCs) across the country. The expected results of this initiative are faster, better-informed emergency response, fewer communication errors, improved data accuracy, and reduced stress for citizens and 911 telecommunicators.

“Once ASAP Service is integrated with our CAD system, we no longer will need to dedicate a telecommunicator to monitoring the web portal,” said Katherine Underwood, the agency’s management specialist.

The first phase of the initiative deployed the solution through ASAP View, a web-based portal that reduced the city’s implementation timeline by roughly 50 percent. “Once we had the opportunity to review our call volume and processes, the value of having all the information upfront was clear,” said Katherine Underwood, the agency’s management specialist. “We moved forward with View because it was easy to implement and use, and we believe it will reduce call handling times and overall call volume. Ultimately, the benefits outweighed the manual effort, since we would have had to build those calls either way.”

However, to realize the full potential of ASAP Service — for example, address pre-verification — the city plans to integrate ASAP with its CAD system as part of phase two. CentralSquare, the agency’s CAD-system vendor, is developing an application programming interface (API) for this purpose. The API will connect to the GovCloud-hosted version of ASAP, delivering scalability, reliability, and superior data security, as well as compliance with the Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) security standards for handling criminal-justice information.

“Once ASAP Service is integrated with our CAD system, we no longer will need to dedicate a telecommunicator to monitoring the web portal,” Underwood said.

The agency’s ECC serves about 702,000 residents and provides 911 call-taking and dispatch services for law-enforcement, fire/rescue and emergency-medical incidents. In 2025, the center received 1.48 million calls for service, plus nearly 40,000 residential and business alarm notifications, the vast majority of which pertained to law-enforcement incidents.

Regarding alarm notifications, multiple voice calls typically are needed between 911 telecommunicators and alarm-monitoring-center personnel to verify the information needed to effectively dispatch emergency response. It is a time-consuming process — industry estimates indicate that it adds from two to eight minutes to response times, an eternity when lives and property are at risk. Because telecommunicators need to type the captured information into their CAD systems, the process also is prone to miscommunications, misinterpretations, and transcription errors.

ASAP Service is architected to resolve these issues. It was developed by TMA in collaboration with the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO). The solution is built on two TMA-developed standards, the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP) and the Alarm Verification Scoring Standard (AVS-01). Both are accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

Of all the benefits that ASAP Service will provide, the one that resonates most with Underwood is the anticipated dramatic decrease in call volume for the center’s telecommunicators. Fewer calls mean telecommunicators will be free to focus on higher-priority incidents that require their unique skills and experience. They’ll also have more time to decompress between calls. “They’ll have time to breathe, which will reduce their stress,” Underwood said.

Further, Underwood predicted that citizens requiring emergency assistance will encounter fewer instances of being placed in queue and will experience shorter hold times when they are. “Our residents no longer will be competing with alarm companies to talk with one of us,” she said. “There’s nothing more frustrating than dialing 911 and getting the ‘all lines are busy, please hold and don’t hang up’ message when your house is burning down.”

As of go-live, the following alarm-monitoring companies are transmitting alarm notifications via ASAP Service to Oklahoma City Police Departments 911 Communications: Quick Response, CPI, Alert 360, Affiliated Monitoring, JCI, United Central Control, Allstate Security, Security Central, Rapid Response Monitoring, Everon/Protection One, Vector Security, Vivint, Guardian Protection, and Becklar.

Learn more about how TMA’s ASAP Service is saving lives every day nationwide at asap911.org.

About The Monitoring Association

The Monitoring Association (TMA), formerly the Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA), is an internationally recognized nonprofit trade association that represents professional monitoring companies, security systems integrators, and providers of products and services to the industry. Incorporated in 1950, TMA represents its members before Congress and regulatory agencies on the local, state and federal levels, and other authorities having jurisdiction (AHJ) over the industry. Learn more online at https://tma.us/about-tma/.

About TMA’s ASAP Service

Launched in 2011 as a public-private partnership, TMA’s Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP) Service enables direct electronic dispatch of emergency calls for service from alarm companies to emergency communications centers. Increasing the accuracy and efficiency of dispatches, ASAP Service utilizes American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-accredited protocols developed cooperatively by TMA and the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO).

Media Contact

Julie Howerter, ASAP Service, 1 815-501-5832, rscarpino@pipitone.com, https://asap911.org/

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