Protect legacy equipment from cyber-attacks

Alan Grau, President, Icon Labs, commented: “A large portion of our critical infrastructure is controlled by legacy devices that were originally designed for use on closed networks and therefore contain little or no security.  Even though they perform critical functions managing our power grid, factories, communication networks and hospitals, most are easy targets for cyber-criminals and cyber-terrorism. Many of these devices cannot be updated to include security and replacing them with new secure versions will take years. The Floodgate Defender provides a simple and cost-effective solution to stop these attacks.”

The Floodgate Defender device is plugged in between the internet or WAN and the device. It includes two Ethernet ports for easy installation. It can be easily configured with communication policies customised for the device it is protecting by using a web-based management interface. The Floodgate Defender enforces the policies, blocking attacks before a connection can be established with the target device, without requiring any change to the network or target device. The Floodgate Security Manager, or other security management systems, can access the event log to audit and manage policies.

The Floodgate Defender’s patented technology protects legacy devices from a broad range of cyber-attacks. Key features include:

• Filtering by IP addresses, ports and protocols;
• Stateful packet inspection;
• Deep packet inspection for ModbusTCP and other industrial protocols;
• Detection and reporting of suspicious traffic;
• Integration with security management systems including Floodgate Security Manager, McAfee ePO and McAfee SIEM; and
• Ethernet pass-through upon power failure to facilitate continuous operation in critical environments.

The Floodgate Defender includes an innovative security coprocessor from Maxim Integrated Products that provides secure key storage and a cryptographic accelerator. This improves the resistance of encryption functions, enables secure boot, and ensures the security of both the Floodgate Defender device itself and the devices it is protecting.

“We are pleased to partner with Icon Labs to incorporate our secure MCU into this new compact firewall that protects installed networked devices with insufficient security,” said Christophe Tremlet, Senior Business Manager, Maxim Integrated. "This exclusive combination of our technology with Icon Labs’ software is a significant advancement in creating the 'Internet of Secure Things'."

”Embedded devices have failed to maintain pace with the increasing number of attacks targeting them, making them easy targets for industrial espionage, hacktivists or even terrorist groups. These devices need the same level of security used to protect enterprise networks. Floodgate Defender provides these devices with a critical, missing layer of security," added Jared Weiner, Analyst, M2M Embedded Software & Tools, VDC Research.

Floodgate Defender is available now with pricing starting at $599. Discounts are available for volume orders.