LOCH Technologies
A Visionary Leap Forward

Garry Drummond, CEO

Technology is deeply intertwined with every aspect of people’s lives today. Remote work or hybrid work environments have contributed to the increase in the number of traditional wireless devices worldwide to 6.2 billion at the end of 2021. Billions of wireless Internet of Things (IoT) devices are being installed yearly. By 2025, an astonishing 27 billion of these devices are expected to be deployed worldwide, with the majority using established technologies such as 802.11 WiFi, Bluetooth/BLE, broad spectrum IoT, and public or private 4G/LTE/5G networks. However, this explosion of all types of wireless connectivity presents significant cyber security risks.

Visibility into radio and airwaves is no longer a futuristic need but an immediate necessity to mitigate risk. Every wireless device, regardless of its origin or protocol, has the potential to offer risk and should be identified and secured. LOCH Technologies is leading the innovation in wireless threat monitoring across a vast spectrum, addressing this need by providing control, visibility, vulnerability assessment, and risk mitigation in the wireless space.

"A remarkable 80 percent of IoT devices are wirelessly enabled. This insight firmly establishes wireless as the fastest growing and riskiest vector, creating invisible threats that we identify and mitigate with our solutions," says Garry Drummond, CEO of LOCH Technologies.

MachineVision is LOCH Technology’s proprietary software platform for the management and mitigation of all wireless threats. This platform brings order to the chaotic world of wireless technology, providing comprehensive visibility and control over a broad array of wireless frequencies, protocols, and devices through a single pane of glass. Beyond visibility, control & mitigation, the Machine Vision platform offers SIEM & SOAR integration (which provides additional insight into your wireless risks) and a co-managed option that can be monitored by LOCH’s security operations staff 24x7.

As wireless deployments and devices multiply, so do the external attack surface/ vulnerabilities. The Machine Vision platform tackles this by enabling real-time visibility and protection for Cellular, Wi-Fi, broad-spectrum RF, IoT, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) devices across enterprise and mission-critical environments, irrespective of the device's operating system, protocol, or communication type.

Fortifying Wireless, Broad-Spectrum RF, and Cellular Communications

AirShield(™) is a wireless security-as-a-service (SaaS) solution designed to ensure visibility, management, and security of every device in the IoT ecosystem, regardless of its type, protocol, or ownership. AirShield offers numerous benefits, such as cloud-enabled technology which connects with the Machine Vision threat analytics platform, eradicating the need for on-premise servers and providing effortless visibility and control. This streamlined approach enables real-time actionable insights within minutes while integrating with essential operations such as security information and event management (SIEM), security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR), and IT service management (ITSM).

Real-time threat data analytics are paramount in wireless IoT security. AirShield empowers organizations to identify and address vulnerabilities across ‘intentional’ and ‘unintentional’ RF emissions across managed and unmanaged devices. By leveraging AirShield's threat-hunting incident tracker app and API-based integrations with third-party IT tools, organizations can effectively close the incident response loop, ensuring swift tracking, ticketing, and threat remediation.

AirShield's customizable software-defined radio (SDR) represents another crucial asset in the continuous detection and tracking of IoT, IoMT, and OT devices. It can monitor a broad spectrum of wireless radio frequencies, ranging from 4G/LTE/5G cellular to 300MHz-6GHz, mitigating risks and counteracting threats that could compromise an organization's infrastructure.

To enhance awareness of escalating IoT security risks, AirShield offers Critical Path to Exposure(™) reporting. Organizations can leverage industry-leading IoT wireless security benchmarks to measure and manage the security posture of their wireless and cellular-connected devices. This comprehensive reporting helps them identify vulnerable areas in their IoT deployments, empowering them to fortify their defenses accordingly.

The solution's passive monitoring capabilities extend to cellular, broad-spectrum wireless IoT, and WiFi airwaves.

Continuous Threat Hunting and Triangulating

As part of AirShield’s solution, a mobile threat-hunting app is provided to locate and remove offending devices. This app tracks down devices found by AirShield by using a smartphone and acts as a signal dBm meter Geiger counter with audio to locate device(s) being investigated. With seamless handover from the AirShield to the LOCH Cloud Platform, assigning the incident to a security analyst is made easy with automated incident creation, tracking, and resolution along with 3rd party integrations.

Safeguarding Cellular Tower Communications

Illegitimate cell phone towers, known by names like Stingray, Dirtbox, or IMSI Catcher, have become increasingly prevalent due to their ease of deployment and high mobility. These rogue towers exploit the design methodology of smartphones, connecting to the strongest available signal to reduce power constraints and optimize the user experience. By broadcasting a stronger signal than legitimate towers, these fake towers create a “man-in-the-middle” scenario, enabling malicious actors to eavesdrop on conversations, steal sensitive information, and launch other attacks. To address this growing threat and mitigate potential security risks, LOCH has ingeniously developed a solution called AirCell(™).

The Number One Challenge For Our Customers Is The Lack Of Visibility Into The New Threat Landscape As They Adopt IoT And Industrial IoT. They Struggle To Navigate This Evolving Terrain Without The Ability To Defend The Unknown. We Provide The Solution To Help Them Gain Control And Understand The Threat Landscape They Face

The collected data is then meticulously analyzed against an internal dataset that contains known attributes from legitimate carriers operating in the area. This dataset serves as a reference to evaluate the trustworthiness of each tower. AirCell assigns a trust score to each tower, categorizing them as known, unknown, and suspicious. Users can also contribute data from their environments, such as CBRS and private cellular networks, enhancing the internal dataset used by the LOCH analytics engine for accurate characterization.

This solution allows users to defend their airspace against potential threats and anomalous activities and ensures that performance, confidentiality, integrity, and availability are safeguarded for devices that connect via cellular networks.

Microelectronics and Hardware Assurance

Hardware Tampering involves implanting malware or trojans into communications devices, servers, or other network equipment during the manufacturing process and supply chain handling. Such modified software, firmware, or implanted microelectronics can be remotely controlled to open back doors to gain initial access and attack the system and the entire network infrastructure.

AirShield utilizes software-defined radios (SDR) capable of “listening” to RF emissions from 300Mhz to 6Ghz. Its wide range enables the detection of intended emissions from broad-spectrum RF, WiFi, Cellular, Bluetooth, and other protocols. Its field programmability (SDR) makes it future-proof for new applications. In addition, the same AirShield sensor has the ability to baseline the AC/DC power, electromagnetic emanations, and acoustic signatures of microelectronic hardware in order to detect hardware tampering and firmware execution threats implanted in the supply chain. AirShield uses advanced machine learning analytics to collect and analyze all this data in order to mitigate all potential intrusions.

LOCH’s Wireless Machine Vision™ has already been tested and validated in production environments. The LOCH platform can locate, identify and monitor devices over a broad range of RF spectrum used for ‘intended’ communications while simultaneously monitoring the ‘unintended’ emissions (power, acoustic, EMI) from supply chain hardware tampering attacks.

In today's hyper-connected world, organizations of all sizes struggle to cope with the massive management and security threat monitoring from wireless IoT adoption. However, another innovative solution from LOCH - AirGuard - offers multiple functionalities and benefits that help organizations actively hunt and neutralize cyberattacks, tackling the challenges posed by the explosive growth of wireless IoT and the lack of a dedicated wireless security operations center (SOC).

"A remarkable 80 percent of IoT devices are wirelessly enabled. This revelation firmly establishes wireless as the new front-door and external attack vector, creating invisible threats we address with our solutions"

IT security teams are overwhelmed by the daily security alerts. Geographically distributed IT operations, hybrid and multi-cloud environments, the widespread use of SaaS applications, and increasing deployment of IoT/OT devices also contribute to this challenge, leading to inefficient triaging incidents and leaving organizations vulnerable to threats. AirGuard offers a solution by detecting invisible threats and monitoring and collecting data from surrounding wireless networks.

A key feature of AirGuard is its continuous cellular IoT visibility. Equipped with DVR capabilities, it offers 24/7 monitoring with priority alert handling. The service is provided by wireless experts who are an extension of the organization's networking and security teams. It also offers on-site services for activities such as heat mapping, installations, and upgrades, further enhancing its value.

AirGuard's wireless SOC services encompass multiple functionalities. It includes procurement, installation, and replacement of network infrastructure (if applicable), as well as the management and monitoring of wireless equipment. The service also leverages multi-vendor API-driven asset and event data correlation for real-time analytics, enabling organizations to gain valuable insights. AirGuard also provides AirShield protection for broad-spectrum IoT deployments, offering airspace protection in the frequency range of 300MHz to 6GHz.

With AirGuard, organizations can collaborate with a dedicated service team that works alongside their network and security personnel. This collaboration ensures comprehensive end-to-end risk and threat detection, tracking, and mitigation. To further instill confidence, AirGuard is backed by a $1 million per incident cyber insurance policy, showcasing LOCH's commitment to providing reliable protection.

Invisible Threats, Visible Protection - Securing the unseen

LOCH has established itself as a leading provider of cutting-edge wireless threat detection solutions catering to the ever-evolving needs of various industry sectors, including healthcare, government, airports, gaming, and hospitality. This inherent flexibility has positioned it as a trusted partner for esteemed organizations, empowering them to overcome unique challenges effectively.

A shining example of LOCH's expertise and the transformative impact of its solutions unfolded during a remarkable collaboration with a federal government client operating within the Department of Defense (DoD) supply chain. The client faced a significant security breach when an insider threat planted a covert spy camera in their sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF).

Despite the policy prohibiting wireless devices within the environment, the spy camera went undetected, silently monitoring, listening, and recording confidential communications. However, after implementing LOCH's AirShield, the client was alerted to rogue signals from their SCIF. AirShield's advanced capabilities enabled the client to swiftly identify the IoT spy camera and take immediate action to remove it.

Recognizing the critical need to fortify their security measures against insider threats, the client engaged LOCH to enhance their infrastructure. AirShield was deployed across all SCIFs in Washington, D.C., serving as an external protective shield to prevent any unauthorized wireless transmissions from breaching the secure perimeter of the SCIFs.

A Paradigm Shift in IoT Protection

Drummond emphasizes the challenge LOCH's customers face, stating, "The number one challenge for our customers is the lack of RF visibility into the new threat landscape as they adopt IoT and industrial IoT. They struggle to navigate this evolving terrain without the ability to defend the unknown. We provide the solution to help them gain control and understand the threat landscape they face."

LOCH stands at the forefront of the rapidly evolving IoT landscape, addressing critical gaps in security and ushering in a new era of enhanced visibility. Its pioneering approach is transformative, reshaping the industry by proactively protecting all layers of IoT devices even before they receive an IP address. Through strategic partnerships and meticulous threat analyses, the firm stays aligned with the latest frequencies and protocols, making sure its solutions are always up to date and offering clients complete security.

However, this is just the beginning. LOCH possesses a visionary mindset, constantly driving innovation to unlock limitless possibilities. It recognizes the urgent need to tackle emerging wireless risks across vital sectors and tirelessly pushes the boundaries of technology. The firm's commitment has positioned it to deliver solutions that conquer the ever-shifting challenges of the wireless and hyper-connected age. Looking ahead, LOCH stands ready to shape the course of this new era, where connectivity knows no bounds.