One way communication
Nuclear power plants, the electrical power grid and other critical infrastructure need to be monitored, someone needs to see and analyse data in real time. The system has to have an opening. It is at the same time crucial that no one can manipulate the systems but putting data in. A data diode lets the analyst extract data out without any possibility to put any information into the system.
Functionality
We find it very elegant to solve hard problems with simple solutions. A data diode is just that. It is a one direction data transfer connection between two points. The fiber optics of the data diode makes it impossible to send data in the opposite direction.
Use cases
A data diode is useful in any place where data should be looked at but not manipulated or any place where data should be added but not extracted. Good examples are nuclear power plant monitoring, handling of evidence for criminal investigation or registering of grades in school.
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“link22 takes responsibility for more than just the product they deliver. They made sure it was integrated in a secure way in relation to our existing set up. The responsibility is just remarkable.”
Anonymous customer
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“User friendly, zero issues during installation and integration.”
Anonymous customer
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“Comprehensible and useful documentation.”
Anonymous customer
Specifics about the Data Diode
Air-gapping can be achieved by separating two systems with link22 Data Diode that on the physical level guarantees that data can only flow in one direction. link22 Data Diode provides a separation with much higher assurance than other mechanisms, such as firewalls.
By using link22 Data Diode a closed system containing confidential information can be fed with information from an open system, while ensuring that no confidential information can leak to the open system.
Examples:
- Import of Operating System updates.
- Supplying closed systems with time from an external NTP server.
With link22 Data Diode information from a closed system can be passed to an open system while ensuring that no modification of information in, or attack on, the closed system is possible.
Examples:
- Export of PLC reading in critical infrastructure systems.
- Protection of data sent to log server.
One-way communication systems are sensitive to link errors, for instance power interrupts, cabling issues and other network problems. To maintain high reliability you can use software that have mechanisms to increase reliability and alert when failures occur. Our portfolio of diode product and solutions increases reliability through retransmissions; heartbeat functionality will detect and alert any link errors. A receiving proxy will, in addition, verify the integrity of transferred data ensuring that you can trust that the data has been transferred correctly and without errors. It is also important to limit bandwidth usage over the data diode to prevent package loss.