Protect Critical Infrastructure With Runsafe Security’s Alkemist

Protect Critical Infrastructure With Runsafe Security’s Alkemist

Hackers are having increasing success penetrating the operating technology and industrial control systems underpinning data centers, utilities, manufacturing plants. As organizations incorporate smart devices, connect to the Internet of Things, and utilize the cloud to optimize performance, new attack vectors – and cyber vulnerabilities – are created. Skilled cybercriminals only need to find a single point of entry to infiltrate a network, while defenders have the impossible task of protecting every device and system 24/7/365. The mismatch between attacker expertise and defender methodology puts the odd in favor of attackers, costing organizations more than $450 billion annually.

The tools currently available aren’t able to keep pace with evolving threats.  RunSafe Security has launched the solution – Alkemist, a patented cyberhardening process that significantly improves cybersecurity for devices and systems employed daily by businesses and government agencies. Cyberhardening reduces the vulnerability surface that hackers use to gain access and do harm. Bad actors typically gain control of systems via memory corruption errors and buffer overflow exploits in software. Alkemist hardens software binaries against these, protecting vulnerable operations processes, IoT devices like routers, vehicles, medical devices, and component of industrial control systems in power plants and utilities.

Alkemist is a remotely deployable cyberhardening transformation process that utilizes two runtime application self-protection (RASP) techniques. The first is binary stirring (randomization) that makes each protected device functionally identical but logically unique. The second is control flow integrity (CFI), which protects against Return Oriented Programming (ROP) attacks, in which existing code is called out of order to become a hacking script. This prevents malware from changing how commands are executed, and denies it the uniformity required to propagate.

By precluding an exploit from spreading across multiple devices and networks, Alkemist disrupts hacker economics and shifts the odds in favor of the defender. While other security vendors focus on preventing breaches with firewalls, anti-virus software, or intrusion protection, RunSafe assumes that hackers will eventually break in. Therefore, rather than reacting to compromised vulnerabilities following an exploit, Alkemist prevents malware from being executed. Watch our video, and then learn more at Runsafe Security.

Further reading: 6 Tips to Protect Your Network From Malware Attacks

About RunSafe Security 

RunSafe Security is the pioneer of a patented cyberhardening transformation process designed to disrupt attackers and protect vulnerable embedded systems and devices. With the ability to make each device functionally identical but logically unique, RunSafe Security renders threats inert by eliminating attack vectors, significantly reducing vulnerabilities and denying malware the uniformity required to propagate. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, with an office in Huntsville, Alabama, RunSafe Security’s customers span the critical infrastructure, IIoT, automotive, medical, and national security industries.