Summary
- Profile Type
- Technology offer
- POD Reference
- TOGB20240911021
- Term of Validity
- 11 September 2024 - 11 September 2025
- Company's Country
- United Kingdom
- Type of partnership
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
- Targeted Countries
- Belgium
- Austria
- Bulgaria
- Estonia
- France
- Ireland
- Lithuania
- Finland
- Greece
- Croatia
- Luxembourg
- Italy
- Cyprus
- Hungary
- Latvia
- Germany
- Denmark
- Czechia
- Romania
- Malta
- Spain
- Slovenia
- Slovakia
- Poland
- Portugal
- Sweden
- Netherlands
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General information
- Short Summary
- A UK based cybersecurity SME has developed a solution, designed to integrate and efficiently operate in any environment for the full protection of Critical National Infrastructure (CNI). The SMEs solution enables secure physical connection and disconnection of sensitive assets to and from the internet — remotely and without internet connectivity. The SME is now seeking partners based in the EU through a commercial agreement with technical assistance to further develop and refine their solution.
- Full Description
-
A UK based cybersecurity SME has developed a solution which addresses the growing threat of cyber-attacks on Operational Technology (OT) and Industrial Control Systems (ICS) within Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) organisations. These attacks compromise national security, endanger public safety, and destabilise the economy, making a robust solution crucial.
In the era of 24/7 internet connectivity, organisations are continuously vulnerable to cyber-attacks. The rise of Industry 4.0 has broadened the cybersecurity threat landscape across industries, businesses, and societies, with cybercrime estimated to cost the global economy USD 10.5 T annually by 2025. The average data breach cost in 2023 was USD 4.45M, while the average critical infrastructure data breach cost was estimated at USD 4.82M. In 2023, the world’s critical infrastructure – healthcare, energy, communications, waste, manufacturing, and transportation – was under near-constant attack with 13 attacks recorded per second. Cyber-attacks on critical national infrastructure can severely impact national security, compromise public health services, disrupt supply chains, and cause significant environmental damage. Due to the consistency and large-scale damage that cyber threats cause, legislation changes in the UK, Singapore, the US, Australia, and other nations, mandate that networks and ports must only be accessible when needed for the device to function. Currently, no solution allows for the physical disconnection function without pulling a cable or using a vulnerable software trigger other than the solution developed by the UK based cybersecurity SME. Indeed, the default-disconnect functionality now required by these legislations is what stands at the centre of the SMEs cybersecurity philosophy.
The SMEs technology has distinctive features that redefine the essence of security:
• Complete Physical Disconnection: The SMEs solution operates through remotely controlled electro-mechanical relays at Open Systems Interconnection layer 1 (OSI) Layer 1, achieving a level of security that is unmatched. Physical isolation ensures digital assets are impervious to cyber threats, rendering them unreachable and invisible to attackers.
• Non-IP Commands and Out-of-Band Signalling: Non-internet communications allow for immediate access to the assets whenever needed, combining the security of cold storage with the speed and flexibility of hot storage.
• Protocol-Agnostic Nature: Protocol-agnostic ports allow users to plug in any kind of signal which is crucial for critical national infrastructure systems that are reliant on aging technologies and protocols incompatible with modern cybersecurity solutions.
• Enhanced Network Management: The solution will boast several configurable and accessible features, such as the ability to retain default states during power outages and re-establish predefined stages upon power restoration, executing state changes within 5ms of receiving a trigger signal.
• Customisation Possibility: The solution embraces a flexible and client-centric approach, encompassing a comprehensive suite of features and capabilities and engineered with a modular design. The latter facilitates myriad customisations to meet specific client requirements.
The SME is seeking partners through a commercial agreement with technical assistance, with a focus on critical national Infrastructure organisations to pilot their solution, the outcomes of the pilot studies will be used to inform future developments of the solution. In addition to this, the SME is seeking R&D partners that have developed intrusion detection systems in cybersecurity with the view of the knowledge exchange and shared expertise helping the SME to further refine their solution, as well as adapting this to the EU market. - Advantages and Innovations
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The SMEs solution introduces an innovation that empowers organisations to reliably safeguard their digital assets by enabling instant connection and disconnection to and from a network, remotely and within seconds, all without internet connectivity. Through their technology, they provide an added layer of security as their patented process controls a micro, yet completely physical disconnection of the element through which data is flowing. They enable the granular disconnection of devices at the OSI Layer 1 level, preserving vital evidence for future analysis without risking data or firmware corruption. This is crucial in environments dealing with sophisticated state-sponsored malware designed to persist in memory and avoid detection. The solution provides a cybersecurity hardware solution, that is not dependent on the age, brand, or type of network switches, making it highly versatile in mixed vendor environments and easily retrofitted into existing CNI/ICS/OT.
The device offers both reactive and proactive approaches to network management. In this way, users are equipped to steer their network’s security not only in the heart of an attack, but also before a threat even materializes, thereby neutralising potential threats with unmatched efficiency.
1.Reactive: functioning as a cyber fire break – in the event of an attack, the customer can “blow the bridges” by swiftly and remotely disconnecting networks. Through this surgical isolation of network assets, the attack is halted, and the recovery time is accelerated.
2.Proactive: functioning as a drawbridge – the device allows users to keep assets, devices, and operational technology controls hidden until the very moment they are required. Assets therefore remain secure until permitted users require access. - Stage of Development
- Already on the market
- Sustainable Development Goals
- Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- IPR status
- IPR granted
- IPR notes
-
Multi-patented technology with US issued patents and patent pending in EU and Japan
US 2019-0173853
US 2022-0060476
US-2022/0191204
WO 2019/113237
Partner Sought
- Expected Role of a Partner
-
The SME is seeking Critical National Infrastructure organisations, such as organisations in the energy sector, water and waste management sector, hospitals and health sector and the aviation sector to trial their product and to provide feedback on the functionality of the product so the product can be further developed and refined. International cooperation would add substantial value to the technology and projects envisioned and foster a climate of knowledge exchange, innovation, and shared expertise.
The SME are also seeking potential R&D partners that have developed or offer intrusion detection systems in cybersecurity, to further develop their device. - Type and Size of Partner
- SME 50 - 249
- R&D Institution
- SME <=10
- Big company
- SME 11-49
- Type of partnership
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
Dissemination
- Technology keywords
- 01003021 - Remote Control
- Market keywords
- 02006009 - Other computer services
- Targeted countries
- Belgium
- Austria
- Bulgaria
- Estonia
- France
- Ireland
- Lithuania
- Finland
- Greece
- Croatia
- Luxembourg
- Italy
- Cyprus
- Hungary
- Latvia
- Germany
- Denmark
- Czechia
- Romania
- Malta
- Spain
- Slovenia
- Slovakia
- Poland
- Portugal
- Sweden
- Netherlands