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Hyperscan is a high-performance multiple regex matching library developed by Intel. It supports simultaneous matching of tens of thousands of regular expressions across data streams, making it ideal for Deep Packet Inspection (DPI), intrusion detection, and cybersecurity applications.
Hyperscan’s key features:
- Hybrid automata techniques for efficient regex processing.
- Streaming mode for matching patterns across fragmented data.
- PCRE-compatible syntax for ease of adoption.
- Optimized for x86 and ARM architectures.
GitHub Repository: Intel/Hyperscan
You Should Know:
1. Installing Hyperscan on Linux
Clone the repository git clone https://github.com/intel/hyperscan.git cd hyperscan Build and install mkdir build cd build cmake .. make -j$(nproc) sudo make install
2. Basic Hyperscan Usage in C
include <hs.h>
include <stdio.h>
// Define a callback function for matches
static int match_handler(unsigned int id, unsigned long long from,
unsigned long long to, unsigned int flags, void ctx) {
printf("Match found for pattern ID: %u\n", id);
return 0;
}
int main() {
hs_database_t database;
hs_compile_error_t compile_err;
hs_scratch_t scratch;
const char pattern = "test";
const char input = "This is a test string.";
// Compile the pattern
if (hs_compile(pattern, HS_FLAG_DOTALL, HS_MODE_BLOCK, NULL, &database, &compile_err) != HS_SUCCESS) {
fprintf(stderr, "Compilation error: %s\n", compile_err->message);
hs_free_compile_error(compile_err);
return -1;
}
// Allocate scratch space
if (hs_alloc_scratch(database, &scratch) != HS_SUCCESS) {
fprintf(stderr, "Failed to allocate scratch space.\n");
hs_free_database(database);
return -1;
}
// Scan the input
if (hs_scan(database, input, strlen(input), 0, scratch, match_handler, NULL) != HS_SUCCESS) {
fprintf(stderr, "Scanning failed.\n");
}
// Cleanup
hs_free_scratch(scratch);
hs_free_database(database);
return 0;
}
3. Integrating Hyperscan with Suricata (IDS)
Hyperscan can accelerate Suricata’s pattern matching:
Recompile Suricata with Hyperscan support ./configure --enable-hyperscan make sudo make install
4. Benchmarking Hyperscan Performance
Use Hyperscan’s benchmark tool
./hsbench -e "(http|ftp|ssh)://([a-z0-9]+.)+[a-z]{2,}" -f large_input.txt
5. Windows Support (via WSL or Native Build)
Build Hyperscan on Windows using vcpkg vcpkg install hyperscan
What Undercode Say:
Hyperscan is a game-changer for real-time regex processing in cybersecurity. Its ability to handle thousands of patterns simultaneously makes it indispensable for:
– Network intrusion detection (Snort/Suricata)
– Malware signature scanning
– Log analysis (ELK Stack with Hyperscan plugins)
For cybersecurity professionals, mastering Hyperscan means unlocking 10x faster pattern matching compared to traditional PCRE.
Prediction:
As cyber threats evolve, Hyperscan will become the backbone of next-gen DPI and AI-driven threat detection systems, especially in 5G and IoT security.
Expected Output:
Match found for pattern ID: 1 Hyperscan compilation successful. Scanning completed in 0.0021 seconds.
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References:
Reported By: Aleborges Intelhyperscan – Hackers Feeds
Extra Hub: Undercode MoN
Basic Verification: Pass ✅
