In the Star Trek universe, the Klingons adopted cloaking technology from the Romulans in 2268, outfitting their iconic Bird-of-Prey vessels with devices that rendered them invisible to enemies. This strategic advantage allowed them to remain undetected, plan attacks, and avoid unnecessary conflict. While this is a fictional tactic, the underlying principle of cloaking can be applied effectively in cybersecurity to protect systems from bad actors. In the world of SD-WAN and network security, invisibility is a powerful defensive strategy.
Visibility | A Double-Edged Sword
Leaving your network visible, open, and accessible to the internet is akin to flying a bright flag that says, "Come and get me!" Hackers and malicious entities continuously scan the internet for vulnerable systems, often aided by tools and platforms that act as reconnaissance agents. By eliminating unnecessary visibility, you reduce your attack surface, making it harder for bad actors to target your network.
The Modern Cloaking Technique | Threat Intelligence & Packet Filtering
Fusion Broadband’s SD-WAN service chain leverages a modern equivalent of cloaking through the integration of threat intelligence and advanced packet filtering. This approach ensures your network remains hidden and inaccessible to unauthorised actors, akin to the Klingon cloaking device. Here's how it works:
Threat Intelligence Feeds
Threat intelligence feeds provide up-to-date information on known malicious actors, including IP addresses, domains, and other identifiers used by cybercriminals. These feeds are incorporated into the Linux kernel within Fusion’s SD-WAN solution to build blocklists. Packets originating from these flagged sources are immediately dropped, preventing bad actors from interacting with your network.
Blocklisting Malicious Sources
By combining threat intelligence with a service chain, Fusion SD-WAN proactively blocks traffic from known malicious sources. These include:
Hacker IPs: Preventing direct attacks from known malicious IP addresses.
Command-and-Control Servers: Cutting off communication channels for malware.
Botnet Infrastructure: Thwarting attempts to use infected machines within your network.
Scrubbing Connections from “Research” Tools
Platforms like Shodan are ostensibly tools for research, but they often serve as reconnaissance for attackers. These tools catalogue vulnerabilities, open ports, and network configurations, providing a treasure trove of data for cybercriminals. By blocking traffic from such tools, you can prevent your network from becoming a part of their publicly visible datasets.
Zero Trust Integration
The cloaking strategy complements a Zero Trust architecture. With Zero Trust, every connection is scrutinised and verified, ensuring no bad actor can exploit trust relationships or bypass your defences.
Beyond the Blocklist & Proactive Cloaking
While blocklists and threat intelligence are effective, a robust cloaking strategy requires additional proactive measures:
Reducing Attack Surface
Only expose services and endpoints that are absolutely necessary. Use SD-WAN to segment your network and isolate critical assets from general traffic.
Dynamic Filtering
Leverage machine learning and real-time analytics to adapt blocklists and filtering rules as new threats emerge.
Deception Technologies
Honeypots and decoys can divert attackers from your real assets while providing valuable intelligence about their methods and targets.
Shodan | The Borg of Cybersecurity, Bent on Assimilation
In the Star Trek universe, the Borg are a relentless collective, scanning, adapting, and assimilating anything they find into their hive mind. They see no boundaries and have one mission: to grow stronger by absorbing others’ technology and knowledge. Shodan, often referred to as the “search engine for the Internet of Things,” operates with a similar tenacity, scanning the Internet 24/7 to identify devices, services, and vulnerabilities. The information it gathers is then offered to its subscribers—who may not all have the best intentions—making it a significant cybersecurity risk.
The Constant Watchers
Much like the Borg’s omnipresent collective, organizations like Shodan, Censys, and ZoomEye are perpetually scanning every corner of the Internet. These so-called “research institutes” claim to provide valuable data for security professionals. However, in practice, they also arm malicious actors with detailed maps of exploitable devices and vulnerabilities.
A subscription to one of these platforms is like receiving a blueprint for hacking at scale. Anyone can log in, search for exposed systems, and download vulnerabilities—making it disturbingly easy to create a botnet or launch targeted attacks.
Must Be Born Under a Cabbage Tree to Believe They’re Legit
It would be naïve to think these platforms exist purely for altruistic research purposes. While some legitimate security experts use their data for threat assessments, the dark side of their operations cannot be ignored. These tools essentially put a bullseye on your infrastructure, broadcasting your vulnerabilities to anyone with access.
How to Defend Against the Borg of the Internet
The best defence against platforms like Shodan is to prevent them from gathering data about your systems in the first place. Here’s how:
Drop All Traffic from Scanners
Use threat intelligence feeds or manually block known IP ranges used by these platforms. This ensures your network remains invisible to their probes. Many SD-WAN solutions, like Fusion Broadband, integrate service chains that allow for advanced packet filtering and automated blocking.
Limit Your Attack Surface
Close unused ports, disable unnecessary services, and employ strict access controls to reduce what these scanners can detect. If there’s nothing visible to scan, there’s nothing for them to report.
Perform Internal Vulnerability Assessments
Don’t rely on external scanners to tell you what’s wrong. Conduct regular security audits and penetration testing within your own controlled environment to identify and fix issues before they’re exploited.
Implement Deceptive Defences
Honeypots can act as decoys, luring scanners away from your real assets. These false targets can give you insight into who’s probing your network and why.
While Shodan is the most well-known, it’s far from alone in its mission. Here are some other platforms with similar capabilities:
Censys: A search engine for discovering devices and networks, often used for Internet-wide vulnerability assessments.
ZoomEye: A tool that offers deep insights into devices and services, primarily in Asia but increasingly used worldwide.
BinaryEdge: A security research platform that focuses on data breaches, misconfigured databases, and other vulnerabilities.
Onyphe: A search engine for cybersecurity data, combining open-source intelligence (OSINT) with active scanning.
Cloaking Yourself from the Borg
To safeguard your network from assimilation, adopt a “cloaking” strategy to block and evade these scanners. Tools like Shodan are not going to stop scanning any time soon, and their data will continue to empower malicious actors. By proactively identifying and addressing your vulnerabilities while blocking these platforms’ probes, you significantly reduce your exposure to potential attacks.
Resistance may be futile for the Borg, but for your cybersecurity, it’s a necessity. Make sure your systems stay out of their collective reach.
The Klingon Advantage for Cybersecurity
By adopting a cloaking strategy inspired by the Klingons, your network can remain hidden, secure, and unappealing to attackers. Hackers thrive on opportunity and visibility; by depriving them of both, you increase the cost and difficulty of targeting your systems, encouraging them to look elsewhere.
Fusion ’s SD-WAN solution exemplifies how to use cloaking effectively in cybersecurity. By integrating threat intelligence feeds, blocking malicious traffic, and scrubbing connections from questionable sources like Shodan, organisations can achieve a level of invisibility that rivals even the Klingons’ finest Bird-of-Prey.
As the cybersecurity landscape evolves, embracing the cloaking philosophy ensures you stay ahead of attackers, defending your network with both strategy and precision. Visibility may seem like strength, but as the Klingons have shown us, invisibility is often the ultimate advantage.
