LateralAccessDevice

Why Should I Care About Keeping Apples Away From Oranges?

An odd question to ask in the context of networks? Perhaps. Yet, the same logic applies.

You may have noticed how we frequently bring up the concept of segrating the computers and other devices on your network from each other (yes, we admit it, we do bring it up a lot). There is a reason for this: it's the simplest and most effective way to up your network security game. Most likely at some point you (and everybody else) learned that it was a good idea to keep your socks and your underwear separate. Yet when it came to the technology of networks, that concept got lost, not because it doesn't make sense (it does), but because of the cost of implementation.

In the yesteryears of hacking, hackers had to compromise a whole bunch of stuff to get to the motherlode they were searching for. Today, in addition to the tools they developed yesterday (to compromise a whole bunch of stuff) they also have the pre-built backdoors that exist in practically every computing gadget you have in your office and home. And they are willing to spend the time to find and open them. For them it pays a lot to use your resources and your gadgets to spy on you and your bank account.... And occasionally publish a video of you preparing your secret sauce.

Have you ever wondered why when after you look at an item online you get bombarded with ads to buy that item, seemingly out of nowhere? It all comes from the very same digital spies that you have all around you. If you think they only spy on you in a "good" way for advertising purposes, just ask yourself, what stops them from spying on you in any other way? The short answer to this conundrum is segregation. Forget about the whys and whos, just don't let all the devices on your network have unfettered access to each other.

The most common way hackers get to our sensitive information is not with a bulls-eye hit on the computers with the most sensitive data. No, it's by first compromising those things that you don't consider "sensitive" or "vulnerable." The devices that you don't do your work on and don't use to access your online banking are the likely ones that you don't consider important or worth spending the time or effort to secure. Heck, you may not even have a way to secure them in themselves (without LAD, who does and how?), as their manufacturer likely had no expertise or understanding of the need to secure all devices that connect in any way to the Internet. While it is true that it was and is intuitive that you would need to protect your computer from hackers, and even just a few years ago that was indeed the case, now you have your smart TVs, fridges, entertainment systems, even doorbells and thermostats connected to the Internet.... And once there you have a possible (in all likelihood direct) connection for the hacker to gain a foothold into your network in a location where you are less likely to notice it, than if they were to conduct a full-frontal assault on the computer you use all the time. With the addition of the network interface card and a processor, our appliances are no longer passive devices that chill our food or display moving images, yet people still treat them as such. Just as those appliances' network connections let something in (data, queries or commands), so do they let something out.

The process is simple: the hacker gets into a peripheral device, maybe even one you don't think of as a having computing power, and use it to sniff out the very computers and devices that you definitely do want to protect. Since they share the same network, and networks are designed for their resident devices to easily sniff each other out, once the hacker is chillin' in your fridge, they are finding out what goodies you have around, such as that laptop that you use for online banking, keylogging it and stealing the password that you think you are using safely. Then, to have your cake and eat it, too, they set up a tunnel or gateway through the fridge (or other device) to your laptop through which to get at what you hold dear. While you may be thinking that your fridge is getting the latest updates, it is passing on everything to the hacker, from your pictures to your banking information and everything in between. To all the world, it looks like you were the one who transferred all your money to an account in Timbuktu using your own laptop, your own password and your own IP address, so why are you complaining?

What makes this even more insidious are the inexpensive convenience gadgets that you buy new, that are pre-infected with spyware, because they are operating just as they were programmed to from the manufacturer. Did you ever wonder how it was they could be sold so inexpensively? And do you even know who the manufacturer really is? Luckily, LAD makes these questions irrelevant.

With LAD, however, you can now tell your security camera not to "talk" to your laptop (you know, the one on which you have all your banking information and passwords) with a click. Really, what business does your security have talking with your laptop? What could it possible have to tell?

LateralAccessDevice, with its ability to keep your unruly devices away from each other, slams the door in the face of any would be digital intruder. It isolates every device from the others, unless you specifically choose to allow them to communicate. With LAD you have full control over your network and it records every packet, so if something does happen, you can prove that it wasn't you who stole all that money from yourself and provide the proof to prosecute who did.

LAD: LateralAccessDevice is software that turns a computer chassis into a high-performance, multi-purpose Internet / network tool that combines multi-dimensional firewalling, network monitoring, access control, packet capture, DNS, NAT and a host of other applications into one easy to use, integrated, high-security package. LAD takes you back to before the Internet!