General Info 

•  What does Waterfall Security Solutions do?
  • Waterfall Security Solutions provides customers with unidirectional connectivity between networks. This enables networks that are normally segregated to be safely connected, thereby greatly improving efficiency.  
     
• What is unidirectional connectivity?
  • Unidirectional connectivity is a connection between networks that allows data to pass in one direction only. For example, information could be transferred from network A to network B but not vice versa. 
     
• Why is unidirectional connectivity necessary?
  • A secure network that is connected to external sources can never be completely secure. Security breaches due to hacking always remain a risk. Non-segregated networks are exposed to threats of on-line attacks and data leakage. Unidirectional connectivity enables data to be transferred between external sources and a secure network (in one direction only) with no risk of on-line attacks and data leakage. 
     
• How is the unidirectionality enforced in Waterfall’s solution?
  • Waterfall’s solution is comprised of two core hardware components, a transmitter and a receiver (TX and RX). A Waterfall TX unit has two network interfaces: one is copper based (plain 100BaseT), the other is fiber optic based. The copper interface is fully functional, and complies with the regular Ethernet standard. The fiber interface is specially produced so as to only have a fiber transmitter, and no receiver whatsoever (it is "deaf"). A Waterfall RX unit, on the other hand, has a full bidirectional copper interface, but only a fiber receiver (it is "mute"). Thus, it is obvious that with only one TX unit and one RX unit, a single Waterfall system enables data flow in one way only. These physical attributes enforce complete unidirectionality without even a theoretical possibility of remote manipulation of the system.  
     
•  Who will benefit from using Waterfall’s products? 
  • Waterfall’s solutions can be extremely useful enhancing efficiency for anyone interested in connecting two networks with different levels of security. Our customer base is derived from three sectors: Financial and Enterprises, Homeland Security, and Critical National Infrastructures.

Waterfall’s Solutions  

• For which applications and protocols does Waterfall enable unidirectional connectivity
  • Waterfall Security Solutions enables connectivity for a wide range of applications and protocols:
  • Securely connecting IP surveillance cameras to a central IT infrastructure (WF-ISE – IP Surveillance Enabler)
  • Relaying online information from SCADA networks to publicly connected networks (WF-SME – SCADA Monitor Enabler)
  • A variety of file and stream transfer protocols, including FTP, mail transfer, software updates from an external update site (usually the Internet) into an internal network, TCP/IP, UDP and SNMP (WF Segregated Networks Connectivity Suite)  
     
•  Is Waterfall adaptive to new needs and custom applications? 
  • Waterfall’s solution includes a built-in SDK (Software Development Kit). Hence, it is extremely flexible and easily adaptable to new applications and protocols. Specific customer requirements for custom applications can also be addressed with relative ease. 
     
• Will I need to update the installed Waterfall solution for any future threats?
  • No. The core of Waterfall’s solution is a physical hardware-based unidirectional connectivity. Therefore, no matter what future threats emerge in the way of viruses, worms, etc., Waterfall’s solution will remain unaffected and impenetrable to on-line attacks, fully preventing data leakage. 
     
• Why isn’t using a firewall and intrusion detection and prevention systems sufficient?
  • We do not suggest that firewalls and intrusion detection and prevention systems do not improve network security and assist in protection against external threats. However, such solutions are software and logic based solutions and as such can be attacked, manipulated or circumvented. Waterfall’s solution is implemented in the physical layer, so it does not suffer from these disadvantages and is indifferent to software definitions and malicious codes.  
     
•  How can Waterfall’s unidirectional solution cope with bi-directional protocols?
  • Waterfall’s communication system is entirely unidirectional. However, many bi-directional protocols, such as SMTP or FTP, are also logically unidirectional using the communication’s other side for acknowledgements and packet resend requests. Therefore, Waterfall’s solutions have no difficulty in replicating the functionality of these protocols. QoS is assured through various mechanisms implemented in the Waterfall Security solution. Moreover, the physical infrastructure of the communication is a short distance fiber optic cable that decreases the chances of transmission errors.

Installation  

• How difficult and lengthy is the installation process?
  • Waterfall’s system is very easily installed and configured. The process is quite simple and should take around one hour, and not longer than two in more complicated implementations.
    
    
• What are the minimal system requirements?
  • System requirement are:
  • Pentium 4, 2.8 GHz and up
  • RAM – 1GB
  • Operating system – Windows 2003, XP 
  • 2 network cards installed  
     
•  How can I evaluate Waterfall Security Solutions products?
  • For further information concerning the possibility of evaluating our products please contact us at info@waterfall-security.com 
    
    

 Additional Issues  

• Is Waterfall Security Solutions looking for partners to cooperate in distributing its products worldwide?
  • Yes, Waterfall Security Solutions has several types of partnership programs. 
     
•  How can I purchase Waterfall Security Solutions’ products?
  • Waterfall Security Solutions’ products can be purchased through Waterfall Security Solutions authorized partners or by contacting us at sales@waterfall-security.com.

For any additional information not addressed in this section please contact us at           info@waterfall-security.com.