> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.tao.media/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Hippius Launches CDN Firewall With Confidential VM Request Filtering - URL: https://www.tao.media/hippius-launches-cdn-firewall-with-confidential-vm-request-filtering/ - Published: 2026-10-29T19:42:04.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-29T19:42:04.000Z - Description: The Bittensor cloud platform adds per-zone traffic controls while shielding decrypted requests from server operators. - Author: Bart Hillerich - Tags: Hippius, Subnets, News Hippius, the distributed cloud platform operating on Bittensor Subnet 75, has [launched a web application firewall for its CDN](https://x.com/Hippius%5Fcloud/status/2115730369487987111?ref=tao.media), adding request filtering inside hardware-protected confidential virtual machines. The service is available on every delivery zone, starting at $5 per zone per month, and blocked requests incur no request or bandwidth charges. Customers can filter traffic using custom rules, reusable address and country lists, and rate limits. The firewall runs on the cache nodes already serving their content, so enabling it requires no DNS changes and covers both a zone's default hostname and its custom domains. The privacy design addresses a necessary part of HTTPS filtering. A firewall must read decrypted requests to evaluate their paths, headers, and other attributes. Hippius keeps that processing inside attested confidential VMs, protecting the readable traffic from the operator of the underlying server. ## Filtering Where HTTPS Is Decrypted A web application firewall makes decisions at the HTTP level, using information such as the requested URL or user agent rather than relying only on network addresses and ports. On Hippius, it evaluates requests before cross-origin resource sharing, HTTPS redirects, cache lookups, and access to the customer's storage bucket. Requests for files already in the cache pass through the same checks. Hippius's [confidential VM implementation](https://hippius.com/blog/hippius-cdn-waf-filtering-inside-confidential-vms?ref=tao.media) combines hardware-protected memory with attestation, which checks that the machine is running the expected software before it handles traffic. TLS termination and firewall inspection happen inside that protected environment, rather than exposing decrypted request content to the host. ![Your TLS and content never leave the machine (WAF inside an attested confidential VM)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/78/0b/780ba906-b1a7-4bf0-873c-bdd5c32e5331/content/images/2026/10/waf-confidential-vm-diagram.png) [Your TLS and content never leave the machine (WAF inside an attested confidential VM) | Hippius Blog](https://hippius.com/blog/hippius-cdn-waf-filtering-inside-confidential-vms?ref=tao.media) This extends the approach behind Hippius's [AMD SEV-SNP Confidential Compute service](https://tao.media/hippius-launches-amd-sev-snp-confidential-compute-on-bittensor-subnet-75/?ref=tao.media), which protects workloads running on independently operated infrastructure. The firewall applies confidential execution to the point where encrypted web traffic becomes readable for inspection. Customers can still retain selected request information for troubleshooting. Sampled events include the matching rule, action, client IP address, country, network number, method, hostname, and path. Query-parameter names are recorded, but their values are not. Requests that match no rule are never recorded, and customers can disable event sampling entirely. ## Rules, Rate Limits, and Reversible Changes The [WAF's rule system](https://docs.hippius.com/use/cdn/firewall?ref=tao.media) uses a subset of Cloudflare's open-source wirefilter language. Expressions can combine client IP addresses, countries, autonomous system numbers identifying networks, hostnames, request paths, query strings, headers, user agents, and HTTP versions. That allows configurations such as restricting an administrative path to office addresses or matching a scraper's user agent. Account-wide lists hold IP addresses and networks, autonomous system numbers, or countries, so the same set can be reused across multiple zones. Custom rules run from top to bottom before rate limits. A Block action stops processing, Allow skips subsequent custom rules but still subjects the request to rate limits, and Log counts the match while continuing through the remaining rules. Rate limits can count by client IP alone, by IP and hostname, or by IP and the first path segment. Customers can set thresholds from one to 1 million requests over 10 seconds or one minute; Advanced also supports a 10-minute window. Exceeding a threshold can trigger a block lasting 10 to 3,600 seconds or simply generate a log entry. ![Hippius CDN WAF rate-limit settings in the console](https://storage.ghost.io/c/78/0b/780ba906-b1a7-4bf0-873c-bdd5c32e5331/content/images/2026/10/hippius-waf-rate-limit.jpg) [Hippius CDN WAF rate-limit settings in the console | Hippius Blog](https://hippius.com/blog/hippius-cdn-waf-filtering-inside-confidential-vms?ref=tao.media) The counters operate independently on each cache node in fixed windows. A client reaching several nodes can therefore exceed the configured threshold before every node blocks it; the limits are not a single globally synchronized counter. Log-only mode evaluates rules against live traffic without refusing requests. Customers can also test a rule against an example request before publishing. Each save creates a version that usually reaches cache nodes within 10 seconds, with the console showing deployment progress. The last 50 published versions remain available for rollback. Restoring one publishes a copy as the newest version, retaining the intervening history. Block responses can use a custom plain-text, HTML, or JSON body of up to 4 KB, including a request reference that visitors can quote when seeking help. ## Pricing and Activation The firewall adds a paid security layer to the [S3-compatible CDN Hippius launched earlier this week](https://tao.media/hippius-adds-s3-cdn-with-usage-based-pricing-and-per-zone-spend-caps/?ref=tao.media). That service delivers bucket contents through edge caches for websites, media, application assets, and downloads. Hippius has also recently added an [encrypted screen recorder to Drive](https://tao.media/hippius-launches-encrypted-screen-recorder-for-private-screen-sharing-in-drive/?ref=tao.media). | Feature | Standard | Advanced | | ------------------------------- | ------------------------- | ----------------------------------- | | Monthly price per zone | $5 | $20 | | Custom rules | 25 | 100 | | Rate-limit rules | 5 | 25 | | Rate-limit windows | 10 seconds or 1 minute | 10 seconds, 1 minute, or 10 minutes | | Lists used per zone | 5, up to 1,000 items each | 25, up to 10,000 items each | | Regular expressions | Not included | Included | | Sampled events per zone per day | 2,000 | 20,000 | | Event retention | 24 hours | 7 days | Charges come from the account balance hourly, prorated per second with a one-minute minimum, while the zone is active and the firewall is in On or Log only mode. Off mode is not billed. Requests that pass the firewall retain normal CDN charges, while blocked or rate-limited requests are not billed. The add-on counts toward the zone's monthly spending cap. If that cap pauses a zone, firewall billing pauses as well. ![Hippius CDN WAF launch video (preview frame)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/78/0b/780ba906-b1a7-4bf0-873c-bdd5c32e5331/content/images/2026/10/RVWddjcRvEH4w1fz.jpg) [Hippius CDN WAF launch video (preview frame) | Hippius on X](https://x.com/Hippius%5Fcloud/status/2115730369487987111?ref=tao.media) CDN administrators can activate the service from a zone's Security tab in the Hippius console. The CDN API also exposes settings, ordered rules, rate limits, reusable lists, analytics, sampled events, and version rollback, allowing teams to manage the firewall alongside their existing deployment tooling.