Istio Service Mesh Support
Learn how Prisma AIRS AI Runtime Security inspects AI workload traffic on Kubernetes
clusters running Istio, and how the mTLS mode you configure determines the scope of threat
detection.
| Where Can I Use This? | What Do I Need? |
|---|
- Prisma AIRS- AI Runtime Security
|
- Prisma AIRS license
- Istio service mesh deployed on the cluster
- Kubernetes cluster running on Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service
(EKS), Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), or Azure Kubernetes
Service (AKS)
- Istio in mutual TLS (mTLS) PERMISSIVE mode (required for
East-West inspection only)
|
Prisma AIRS AI Runtime Security protects AI and container workloads operating within an
Istio service mesh environment. Istio manages pod-to-pod (east-west) traffic through
Envoy sidecar proxies and can encrypt that traffic with mutual TLS (mTLS). The mTLS
mode you configure directly determines which threats Prisma AIRS can detect and block.
Prisma AIRS AI Runtime Security (network intercept) deploys as a network-level
enforcement point and inspects traffic as it passes through the AI Runtime Security
firewall.
For Kubernetes clusters running Istio, inspection coverage works as follows:
- North-South traffic (ingress and egress): Prisma AIRS inspects this traffic
regardless of the mTLS mode configured in Istio.
- East-West traffic (pod-to-pod): Prisma AIRS can only inspect this traffic
when Istio is in mTLS PERMISSIVE mode. In mTLS STRICT mode, traffic is encrypted
between Envoy sidecars before it reaches the AI Runtime Security firewall and cannot
be inspected.
Istio is open-source infrastructure that you configure independently on your cluster.
No Istio-specific configuration steps are required in Strata Cloud Manager.
On Azure AKS, inbound north-south inspection via the Istio ingress gateway is not
supported with the Azure managed Istio add-on.
Protection Coverage by mTLS Mode
| Use Case | mTLS STRICT | mTLS PERMISSIVE |
|---|
| Outbound threats (malware calling command-and-control
(C2)) | Yes | Yes |
| Inbound attacks (exploits, SQL injection) | Yes | Yes |
| Lateral movement (east-west attacks) | No. Traffic is encrypted end-to-end between Envoy
sidecars. | Yes |
| Data exfiltration (outbound) | Yes | Yes |
East-West Inspection Limitation in mTLS STRICT Mode
In mTLS STRICT mode, Istio encrypts pod-to-pod traffic between Envoy sidecars before
it reaches the AI Runtime Security firewall. Because the traffic arrives encrypted,
Prisma AIRS cannot inspect it, and lateral movement protection is unavailable. To
enable east-west inspection, configure Istio in mTLS PERMISSIVE mode.
