StealthPath: Multi-Layered Pre-Emptive Security for Edge Devices

From smart cities to optimized manufacturing to wearables, IoT is the foundation of the digital transformation of the business and consumer landscape. But with great convenience comes great vulnerability. These hundreds of billions of networked devices are purpose-built to connect, not protect. Edge devices are potential gateways for cyberattacks—weak points for exploitation, and access. They are implicated in an increasing number of ceaseless battles between security experts and attackers, ranging from criminals to nation-states. “Once an intruder breaks through the conventional defenses,” says StealthPath President Russ Berkoff, “unauthorized external connections, data exfiltration, and other compromises are only a matter of time.”

Edge devices present a unique set of challenges. They are scaled-down computers, often with highly compact code written in specialized languages, extensively distributed in real-world settings fundamentally unlike the centralized, locked-down environments of modern data centers. They are self-contained and expensive to patch and maintain. And they are a potential back door to every company’s digital assets.

StealthPath’s solution rapidly brings IoT/intelligent devices into full security compliance, without impacting the device performance or requiring any changes to software and infrastructure. Their game-changing approach implements a zero trust-based defense-in-depth. “We challenge every entity, be it an app or a user, trying to initiate a connection with other devices, and we analyze its content before allowing the communication to happen,” says Berkoff. Even if an environment is already penetrated, the StealthPath solution stops it from illicit action, whether it is spreading to other connected systems or beaconing out to download additional malware.

There are three distinct components in the StealthPath solution. Command Intercept, challenges all communication requests, validating that the originating user and application are authorized for the specific device or port connection. This prevents a trusted- but compromised- entity from executing an unauthorized action, like escalating privileges or opening an out-of-profile connection.