ZIA Innovation Launch [Part-2]- From WebSockets to Workflows: Full-Stack Security for GenAI and DevOps

Welcome to the second chapter of the ZIA Innovation Blog Series. Read the first part to learn more about Zscaler’s latest capabilities to improve collaboration between NetOps and SecOps.

Whether it’s ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, or your favorite prompt-powered tool, GenAI brings real upside—and real risk. Think: shadow prompts, encrypted channels, invisible protocol shifts, and developer sandboxes that were never built for inspection.

For most enterprises today, blocking GenAI isn’t an option. But unfiltered access? That’s a compliance nightmare waiting to happen.

Zscaler’s latest innovations can enable your team to secure and control GenAI usage, allowing your organization to embrace its potential while reducing risk.This isn’t GenAI suppression. It’s GenAI with a seatbelt.

Let’s unpack it.

1. WebSocket Inspection: Seeing Inside the Black Box

Most GenAI tools don’t operate over standard protocols. Take Microsoft Copilot, for example. The prompts it processes aren’t sent over HTTP—they ride through WebSockets, a protocol that enables real-time data streaming, and that is often a security blind spot.

With ZIA’s new WebSocket Inspection capabilities, users can now inspect, classify, and enforce policies on traffic flowing through WebSockets — a major leap forward in securing AI-powered tools. 

Here’s what that means:

• Real-time visibility into AI prompts (e.g., what users are typing into Copilot)
• DLP policies that apply to the prompt itself, not just the output
• Full protocol control — inspect, isolate, or block
• Detecting and stopping attacks embedded in WebSocket payloads
• Maintaining inline control across real-time connections

No need to bolt on third-party tools. You get secure GenAI adoption baked into the platform. It’s the kind of visibility that turns AI tools from a risk surface into a controlled productivity accelerator.

Furthermore, there is DLP for AI Prompts to Keep IP Out of the Prompt Box

Every enterprise has an employee who thinks it’s okay to paste customer data, M&A details, or proprietary code into a public AI tool. Now, with WebSocket inspection and enhanced GenAI App Classification, Zscaler lets you:

• Prevent Sensitive Data Input: Stop confidential info (PII, financial data, code) from entering prompts (DLP).
• Enforce Policies & Compliance: Ensure Copilot adheres to company rules and regulations (e.g.-, GDPR, AUP).
• Detect Security Threats: Identify attempts to misuse Copilot (e.g.- generate harmful content, bypass safety).
• Manage User Risk: Spot and address risky behavior patterns in prompt submissions.
• Reduce Accidental Exposure: Gain context on user intent to minimize inadvertent data surfacing by Copilot.
• Improve Usage & Training: Understand how employees use Copilot to optimize its use and identify training needs.
• Maintain An Audit Trail: Keep a record of prompts for security investigations and compliance checks.

And NO, this isn't "block ChatGPT." This is "block financial forecasts being sent to ChatGPT from your CFO’s laptop."

Granular. Contextual. Effective.

2. Smarter TLS/SSL Inspection for Developer Environments

Developers rely on a sprawling mix of open-source tools, CLI utilities, and third-party code repositories. Many of these use custom trust stores, certificate pinning, or nonstandard certificate chains—making traditional SSL inspection tricky, and often completely ineffective. 

That’s a problem, especially when attackers embed malicious scripts into what looks like legitimate code.

ZIA now makes it possible to inspect encrypted traffic in developer workflows without breaking the tools developers rely on. Here’s how:

• Automated TLS/SSL inspection for 30+ dev tools: Define developer-specific inspection policies using pre-built Cloud App categories, or create custom URL categories for tools your teams use—whether it’s Git, npm, or Maven.
• SaaS Security Reporting & Web Insights: Use ZIA’s logs and reports to identify tools that fail certificate validation—flagging traffic that can’t be decrypted and uncovering blind spots before they become vulnerabilities.
• Visibility-Driven Policy Tuning: With a clear view of which tools are in use, admins can mark apps as sanctioned or unsanctioned, and enforce policies accordingly—without disrupting productivity.
• Automated Certificate Distribution (Coming Soon): Down the line, Zscaler will offer automated ways to install the correct root certificates via MDM, ensuring that developer tools reference trusted certs, and allowing SSL inspection to work seamlessly across sanctioned environments.

With developer traffic decrypted and visibility into tooling established, the next frontier is securing the automation pipelines those tools power—namely CI/CD systems. These pipelines, while accelerating development, can also serve as gateways for supply chain attacks if left unchecked.

Zscaler now helps customers detect and prevent:

• Malicious install scripts that execute upon package installation.
• Libraries that request excessive permissions, signaling potential abuse.
• Auto-injected dependencies from misconfigured CI/CD tools.
• Copy-paste malware hidden in shared code snippets, examples, or Stack Overflow answers.
• Embedded threats in legitimate packages, which propagate downstream before detection.

This capability gives DevSecOps teams the ability to spot and block threats long before they reach production.

3. Sandboxing for Dev Files: Don’t Trust That Python Script

With developers frequently pulling scripts from public repositories like GitHub, all it is takes one cleverly disguised Python file to become a zero-day entry point.

Zscaler now applies True Inline Sandboxing to files downloaded by developers—including Python scripts and executables—so:

• Files are held and analyzed before download completes
• Only benign scripts are allowed to execute
• Malicious payloads are blocked in real time, protecting the user and the org

ZIA also identifies suspicious behavior patterns—like active content embedded in PDF or Office files, default misconfigurations in CI/CD workflows, and more.

Whether it's a script, a build file, or a dependency chain—ZIA inspects it, validates it, and only then releases it.

Productivity Can Stay Fast. Security Can Stay Smart.

GenAI and dev tools are like fire: powerful, necessary, but dangerous when left unmanaged. With Zscaler’s new capabilities, security teams can finally say “yes” to modern workflows — without crossing their fingers.

Whether you're a CISO navigating regulatory landmines, or a network engineer tired of mystery traffic, this is your answer: secure GenAI access that doesn’t slow anyone down.

Do watch our webinar to get up to speed on all the features we launched this fall.

Lastly, sign up for our upcoming webinar series for hands-on insights into each new capability. RSVP here.

Want to speak with an expert? Click here.