No Rabbits Here: Austin-based HOPZERO battles cybercrime with hops
Cyber-security is one of the most pressing challenges companies around the world will have to address in the coming years. Here are some recent statistics on cybercrime from thebestvpn.com:
– In 2016, the U.S government spent $28 billion on cyber-security, compared to $7.5 billion in 2007.
– According to Microsoft, the potential cost of global cyber crime to the global community is $500 billion, and a data breach can cost a company $3.8 million.
– Ransomware attacks increased by 36 percent in 2017.
– According to Warren Buffett, cyber attacks are the biggest threat to mankind, and in his opinion, this threat surpasses nuclear weapons.
With disturbing statistics like these, what can be done? An Austin-based company is developing a promising solution.
HOPZERO provides cyber-security by monitoring hops through its cloud-based service, Hop Sphere Radius Security. “For the last two years, I’ve been developing this technology to limit how far data can travel, and we do that by hop count,” Bill Alderson founder and CEO of HOPZERO said. For context, hops are one portion of the path between a source and a destination. By way of the internet, a data packet passes through bridges, routers and gateways that connects network devices, and thus the passing of a data packet is called a hop.
HOPZERO controls the number of hops a packet of data can make before it expires in a network—this means data is directed to destroy itself before it is used for pernicious or malicious purposes. “Every packet has a toll value in it, and we limit that toll value based upon our analysis that looks at every device it’s going to, and we record the hop count to and from all their peers,” Alderson continued. If a data packet is moving more hops than the set amount, HOPZERO will cease any further data movements. The hops technology controls distance, while firewalls control access, and when together, they make for an innovative defense system.
It is worth mentioning that a web server can be restricted to a local area, all the way up to another country. This is called a device hop radius. Any network device can be restricted to a set safe zone, even if a firewall is not present.
HOPZERO also wants to develop protections for various devices, including the copious amount of existent IoT devices out there. “We are automating to bring it to thousands of systems. We believe we have found the solution that everyone has been looking for that will significantly protect our government, businesses, homes and personal devices from hackers and malicious malware,” Alderson said.
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