APERION has unveiled the SmartFlow SDK, a new solution designed to provide enterprises with a secure, on-premises pathway for managing AI governance as they move away from vulnerable cloud-based AI gateways. Notably, the launch comes at a critical time, following a surge in cybersecurity concerns triggered by the recent LiteLLM supply chain attack.
In fact, the company reported a 200% increase in web traffic since the March 24 breach, which reportedly impacted nearly 36% of cloud environments. As organizations reassess their AI infrastructure, many are now prioritizing security, deployment models, and supply chain resilience over convenience and scalability alone.
“The most widely used open-source LLM proxy just got supply-chain attacked. 36% of cloud environments affected. SmartFlow was unaffected. The deployment model is the security model.” Craig Alberino, CEO, APERION
The attack targeted LiteLLM, a widely used open-source LLM proxy within the Python ecosystem, through a cascading compromise involving Aqua Security’s Trivy vulnerability scanner. Consequently, this incident has forced enterprises across sectors such as financial services, healthcare, and defense to urgently reevaluate their reliance on cloud-based AI tools. With approximately 95 million monthly downloads, the compromised LiteLLM package has now been quarantined on the Python Package Index, further amplifying industry-wide concerns.
In response, APERION is positioning its SmartFlow platform as a secure alternative. Unlike cloud-based solutions, SmartFlow operates as an on-premises, Kubernetes-native AI governance control plane. Therefore, it eliminates dependencies on public package registries, external CI/CD pipelines, and cloud data transfers. By keeping deployments within enterprise environments, the platform ensures greater control, reduced exposure, and enhanced compliance.
“The LiteLLM supply chain attack is the AI era’s SolarWinds or NotPetya moment. It validates what we have been building toward since day one: regulated enterprises cannot govern their AI from the cloud,” said Craig Alberino. “In the week since the breach, we have seen a 200% increase in web traffic from enterprises searching for LiteLLM alternatives and AI gateway security. These are not startups. These are institutions that define what production-grade means in financial services and healthcare. AI governance infrastructure is an estimated $40 to $50 billion market opportunity, and enterprises are now making purchasing decisions based on deployment model and supply chain security, not just features.”
Furthermore, APERION has introduced the SmartFlow SDK as a Python-based library that simplifies the transition from evaluation to production-grade AI governance. The SDK intelligently detects whether a SmartFlow appliance is present and configures itself accordingly. As a result, enterprises can either leverage full-featured governance capabilities with the appliance or operate a standalone gateway with functionality comparable to LiteLLM and OpenRouter.
At the same time, the company is supporting migration efforts by releasing a dedicated whitepaper to help organizations transition away from compromised AI gateway dependencies. This proactive approach reflects the growing demand for secure, enterprise-grade AI infrastructure in the wake of recent cyber incidents.
“The March 2026 supply chain attack was not an anomaly. LiteLLM had 17 or more CVEs before this incident,” said Scott Ancheta, CTO and Co-Founder of APERION. “When your AI governance layer depends on a public package registry and an unaudited CI/CD pipeline, you are not running enterprise-grade infrastructure. SmartFlow was built from the ground up as a governed appliance because we understood that the deployment model is the security model. Our Rust-based infrastructure delivers sub-5 millisecond routing overhead and our MetaCache semantic caching achieves 55% to 75% hit rates at p95 latency on production hardware. These are published, verifiable benchmarks from NVIDIA GTC 2026.”
Meanwhile, SmartFlow is already being used in production environments, including by DDA, an AI-powered commercial real estate investment platform, which has achieved 99.999% uptime over several months. Additionally, multiple Fortune 500 organizations are actively evaluating the solution, highlighting its growing relevance in enterprise AI strategies.
Ultimately, APERION’s latest launch underscores a broader industry shift toward secure, sovereign AI governance. By prioritizing on-premises deployment and eliminating external dependencies, the company is enabling organizations to regain control over their AI systems while mitigating emerging supply chain risks.
Recommended Cyber Technology News:
- Peer Software Partners with Carahsoft to Expand Public Sector Data Solutions
- CrowdStrike Falcon and Ai Force Launch Cybersecurity Solution
- RTX BBN Technologies Launches Maude-HCS Toolkit for Covert Network Validation
To participate in our interviews, please write to our CyberTech Media Room at info@intentamplify.com
