When an endpoint is compromised, responders must race against the clock to pull critical data before systems are wiped, reimaged or attacked again. But risky connections and legacy technology may spread malware, break chain of custody, and trigger costly enclave rebuilds. The Owl IRD solves this with hardware-enforced, protocol-aware one-way transfer per U.S. Government PFD requirements. As a PFD, the Owl IRD enhances the unidirectional nature of a simple diode with protocol filtering at the FPGA level — delivering a secure, repeatable evidence path that reduces reinfection risk and preserves forensic integrity. The Owl IRD extends Owl’s PFD suite to the endpoint, complementing Owl Talon’s always-on network flows with purpose-built incident response capabilities, from endpoint triage to evidence intake and one-way mission data collection. High-stakes collections become a consistent, defensible workflow.

“Every incident responder knows the uncomfortable tradeoffs they face when collecting evidence from a live, compromised system,” said Tim Fahl, chief technology officer at Owl Cyber Defense. “Their options are to rush ahead with tools that put their clean environments at risk, or slow everything down trying to engineer safer workarounds in the middle of a crisis. The Owl IRD eliminates that tradeoff by putting protocol-aware, hardware-enforced, one-way protection directly into the responder’s go-bag, so teams can confidently collect what they need without opening new paths for the adversary.”

Source: Owl

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The post Owl launches incident response data diode appeared first on Intelligence Community News.

As cited by the Department of Homeland Security, network segmentation with one-way data diode communications is a proven way to reduce network attack surfaces, create a defendable environment, and implement secure remote monitoring. A network segment is created by cordoning off a group of cyber assets (digital controls, servers, databases, file systems) such that they can interact with each other but aren’t accessible by external resources. The data diode provides network segmentation while simultaneously enabling monitoring information from within the segment to be transferred to external end-users for remote monitoring and other uses.

Until now, network segments were typically defined as larger entities like power plants, data centers, substations, or large databases. Going forward, this new technology will enable network segments to get smaller, providing better security with only authorized entities allowed within the segment. With a miniature data diode, the segments could be as small as a single digital controller on a turbine, the control systems in a crane at construction site, a car going down the highway, or even small enough to defend a medical device like a pacemaker.

“The technology behind this patent opens up significant possibilities,” noted Dr. Ronald Mraz, president and CEO of Owl. “Hardware-based cybersecurity is proven to be more secure than software solutions and now this miniature technology provides access to areas that couldn’t be reached before. As the Internet of Things expands to connect more and more of our devices, security must also advance to protect them from potential cyber threats – our very lives could depend on it.”

Source: Owl Computing Technologies, Inc.

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