Addressing the vulnerability of IP-based infrastructure security
hacker can gain access to these networks as well. The resulting damage can be immense.
Peshin writes that Israel is one of the innovators of security technologies, trying constantly to stay ahead of hackers and provide the means for protecting IT infrastructures. Israel’s position in the world of security could not have been more evident than at the recent ISC-West International Security Conference and Exposition, where Hebrew was in many booths as useful a language as English. The ISC-West conference focuses mainly on surveillance technologies and draws tens of thousands of visitors aiming to be a part of the growing trend of migration from analog based surveillance to the modern IP-based capabilities. Israeli companies are aware of the new security risks posed by this new trend, and the Israeli industry provides a wide range of solutions to these threats. Firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, and anti-viruses are only some of the technologies used to secure data and infrastructures. None of these solutions, however, provide complete protection. Software-based security measures have vulnerabilities and exploits and are not immune to human errors. Given enough time and effort they can be hacked and circumvented.
When looking to protect sensitive or mission critical facilities, then, one must consider that hackers will go to great lengths to cause damage. One must keep in mind that in real life terrorists are willing to be killed while performing terrorist attacks. Thus, one must deploy a solution which is not vulnerable to standard attacks. “A full proof, fool proof, and future proof solution is required,” Peshin writes. One of the promising trends in the network security world is that of unidirectional connectivity, a concept which provides precisely these security requirements. A unidirectional connection is a system that allows data to pass between networks in one direction only. A secure unidirectional communication system must enforce its unidirectional data flow by means of physical hardware as opposed to software and other logical ways. Unidirectional connectivity provides complete security against threats inherent in IP-based surveillance. The idea is transmitting video feeds through a unidirectional link. This architecture creates an impenetrable gateway preventing hackers from penetrating the network. Even if a hacker obtains physical access to a camera, he will not be able to create additional damage, as the unidirectional gateway creates a barrier to online attacks.
Peshin says that Israeli companies are leading the trend of migrating to IP-based surveillance supplying the customers with innovative technologies better to monitor their facilities, and also to enable the capabilities, which secures the surveillance system. This allows for providing mission critical organizations the ability to reap the benefits of IP-based surveillance without compromising their security requirements.
