Securing Your Crown Jewels
In the realms of IT, it’s difficult to find any instance of a genuinely “unique” product – at least, one that’s unique for the right reasons!
Within the security sphere, it’s particularly challenging. The number of occasions, as part of my remit as a judge on Tech Trailblazers, I come across the following as the introduction to the product description: “we have the one and only product that…” – and, of course, they don’t, as proven by the next six entries in that same category, all saying exactly the same thing. Such has been the level of investment poured into security products and services, that this “me too” factor is more visible than in any other sphere of technology. I recall attending an InfoSec, where there were around 400 exhibitors and approximately four different product types being sold between them all. Now, there’s a challenge for SecOps guys to find the best in category and that’s before they consider whether they even need a product in that category or not.
So – and you might be able to guess where I’m going here – it is more than refreshing to encounter a product that is a) most definitely a security product and b) is authentically unique and for the right reasons 😊 The product in question is from Goldilock (I can’t even find a single bear) and is called the FireBreak. I’ve just completed testing and the report writing and you can find the results of my labour here:
But, in summary, the FireBreak provides a genuine way of physically segmenting what we might call IT “crown jewels” from the rest of the IT world, within milliseconds of it being required – literally – such as when a potential cyberattack is flagged up. As for the FireBreak, it looks like an Ethernet switch, but is actually a Layer One device – effectively a very smart ‘patch panel’ that provides on-demand, physical disconnection or reconnection. Note, this is not a software-based form of security air gap defence, but an absolute, physical separation. That’s what makes it unique – well other than having an army of field engineers located across the globe, who can stay awake 24×7 and answer a call to disconnect or reconnect a port in milliseconds…
When, I say “call”, as well as controlling the FireBreak via an out of band management console, you can simply send an authenticated SMS message from a mobile phone to carry out the procedure. Here’s a scenario: the IIoT-based monitoring system of a nuclear power station appears to be under cyberattack. You – the primary field engineer – are down the pub when you get an SMS alert from your management system to inform you of the problem. With a one-bar signal, and barely sufficient levels of consciousness, with a single SMS you can save the world!
But seriously… there is, of course, a “bigger picture” and that is in massively reducing the attack surface of your IT deployment so that every critical elements’ exposure to the outside world can be absolutely minimised. So, globally located data and services are only physically available and accessible as and when they are needed, courtesy of a fully automated system that works 24x7x365, controllable to the second. API support means that integration with 3rd party tools and systems is simple – we tested it. The FireBreak takes just a few minutes to deploy, including making toast and coffee, and simply slots into the existing security infrastructure, wherever and whenever you want it. Moreover, it maximises the capabilities of that existing investment in a security strategy, without any overlap with what is already deployed.
But enough of the spoilers – go read the report and try convincing yourself that you don’t need it…