Protection Through Isolation

Protection Through Isolation

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Security professionals are well aware that sending an email to a colleague has always been the digital equivalent of sending a postcard. Now, given the aggressiveness and skill of today’s hackers, the situation with data on the internet is hardly much better. If your file storage has a public IP address, your data is vulnerable to attack.

It’s worth taking a moment to think about the consequences of a successful attack.

  • If your intellectual property is stolen, it could well destroy an important competitive advantage.
  • If financial data is exposed during an important negotiation, it will undermine your bargaining position.
  • If you’re the target of a malware attack, it will likely cost you millions of dollars and, at least temporarily, bring new product development to a halt, if not your whole business.

All companies have at least some controls in place to prevent events like this, but the sad fact is, these controls don’t work very well. In 2021, for example, 54% of all ransomware attacks were successful.

Data that’s Hidden Is Not Vulnerable

In the light of these failures, a new approach is obviously required, one that can protect data while extricating IT organizations from the constant appearance of new threats, followed by the need to purchase and implement new defensive solutions.

An approach based on isolation meets these criteria perfectly – but the degree of isolation and the manner in which it’s executed are important. Neither the dependency isolation offered by containers nor the tab isolation of some commercial browsers are adequate. Safe isolation of data from bad actors requires an independent network. When that network’s pathways are disguised and varied with multiple hops and regular churning, sensitive data can be made virtually impossible to find.

Here’s a summary of the differences isolation can make:
WITHOUT ISOLATION

  • All your traffic goes over the public internet.
  • Your file storage has a public IP address, which increases your attack surface.
  • Hosting providers may have access to your data.
  • You are on a shared infrastructure.
  • Your use of internet resources is easily tracked.

WITH ISOLATION

  • Access to protected data is via VPN tunnel only.
  • File storage is accessible only via a secure, private network.
  • Your data is isolated from hosting providers.
  • Your infrastructure is dedicated.
  • Your use of internet resources cannot be traced.

The benefits of isolation include the ability to:

  • Mask data. By adding an additional layer of concealment, isolation disguises where your data is being sent. Hostile actors cannot launch attacks if they don’t know the path on which the data travels.
  • Isolate business processes. You can isolate risky functions such as research and security and carry out Internet-facing functions while eliminating the risk of exposure for your systems.
  • Communicate safely. Employees can communicate via pathways that can’t be traced because users leave no internet footprints that reveal their IP address and network identity.

In contrast to encryption, which can increase overhead by well over 100%, protecting data with isolation has little impact on speed.

The ConcealCloud Solution

ConcealCloud is a carrier-class network built on the principles of isolation. As such, it prevents cyber attacks proactively. They not only fail to reach their target. They can’t even find the target. This makes it virtually impossible for bad actors to locate your data, spy on network communications, or disrupt sensitive business processes.

With ConcealCloud, intellectual property, the financial calculations behind deals, and every confidential communication your employees have will remain private. Your organization can safely leverage the benefits of the cloud while eliminating the security risks.