Transforming Networking as You’ve Known It, Eliminating Complexity, Downtime, and the Network Attack Surface: Tempered Networks

We live in a world that has become 100% Internet-connected in just 30 years. As transformative as that has been, organizations constantly struggle with network complexity, cost, and security breaches. The root cause of these issues stems from TCP/IP, which combines a device’s location and identity in a single IP address, using an address-defined networking model. All networking and security solutions on the market use this fundamentally flawed addressed-defined networking model, including so-called ‘Next-Generation’ products.

A Fundamental Change Is Required

Device identity must be based on a provable machine identity, not an ephemeral IP address. Currently, it’s impossible to give every device its own unique IP address so people use work around such as Network Address Translation that makes networking even more complex and fragmented.

Introducing Identity Defined Networking (IDN)

Tempered Networks’ simple and elegant solution that it calls Identity Defined Networking (IDN) addresses the fundamental flaw of TCP/IP. With IDN, an IP address no longer serves as a device’s identity—just its location. IDN enables you to instantly create identity-based overlay networks that are inherently secure and incredibly simple to manage.

Tempered Networks’ Proven Solution is Unlike Any Other

Originally developed for a global Fortune 50 manufacturer, Tempered Networks’ technology enabled the company to increase its competitive edge by modernizing their production network and increasing production output, while safeguarding them against cyber breaches. Today, IDN is available to the broader market and it is uniquely positioned to help you overcome your thorniest networking challenges. It understands the significant burden created by complex, time-consuming, and costly workaround - not to mention the distressing security trade-offs.

Its identity-based solution leverages the IETF-ratified Host Identity Protocol (HIP), an industry breakthrough for secure communications. With HIP, your devices can be identified using strong cryptographic identities, rather than an IPv4 or IPv6 address. This means your networked devices can change location yet retain their strong ‘verifiable’ cryptographic identity.

Its simple to use policy-based orchestration means anyone can manage IDN overlays. Its point-and-click orchestration toolsets and distributes network policies, making manual and tedious IP address management a thing of the past. It’s time to say goodbye to antiquated addressed-defined networking and welcome identity defined networking.

The Tempered Networks Technology

Host Identity Protocol

Host Identity Protocol (HIP) is a standard network security protocol that was born from over 20 years of development, testing, and deployment in coordination with companies such as Ericsson, Nokia, and Verizon, as well as standards bodies such as the Trusted Computing Group, IEEE 802, before being officially ratified in 2015 by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).

HIP was first deployed in the defense and aerospace industries as a cost-efficient and scalable solution to address growing network threats and has been in use for over 10 years in environments where downtime is exceedingly costly.

HIP separates the role of IP address as both host identity and location. It enables us to define network trust relationships by identity at the device level, with traditional IP addressing for location across the Internet. The separation of location and identity eliminates much of the complexity and constraints that make secure networking impossible. It makes direct device-to-device connections possible, no matter where the devices are located, enabling borderless networking. HIP allows us to transition from address-defined networking to identity defined networking.

Identity Defined Networking

Digital transformation – the movement towards cloud, mobility, and big data analytics have architectural, operational, and security implications for network infrastructure. The result is inflexible and complex networks with a continuously expanding total attack surface that is close to impossible to manage and puts organizations at risk. The main cause stems from a fundamental flaw in the basic framework of IP networking.

Tempered Networks’ technology leverages Host Identity Protocol which separates the role of an IP address as both host identity and location, to deliver the first commercially available solution – Identity Defined Networking (IDN). IDN lets us evolve beyond traditional IP networking to a trusted networking architecture based on cryptographic identities. It assigns a cryptographic identity to every IP-enabled device, and enables easy orchestration of these identities across physical, virtual, and cloud domains, creating a unified networking and security fabric.

The IDN design objective is based on the principle that it must be easy to connect, cloak, segment, move, failover, and disconnect networks and individual resources. It unifies networking and security into a single platform, making it simple to create Zero Trust Overlays without having to modify existing network or security infrastructure. Its point-and-click management console makes it easy to connect, micro-segment and manage all your networked devices—across any transport or location. And this approach comes at a fraction of the cost of alternative solutions.

Testimonials

“No doubt about it – this Hall of Famer (Tempered Networks) took the open source HIP and turned it into what may become the most important security innovation since encryption itself became mainstream in cyberspace.”

- Peter Stephensn, Lab Director and Technology Editor, SC Magazine

“Tempered Networks gave us a simple way to achieve end-to-end private networking for our Building Automation network that’s resilient, scalable, and secure. In less than 20 minutes, we were able to deploy our first cloaked overlay network without having to modify systems or involve IT.”

- Tom Walker, Facility Automation Services, Penn State University

The Kingpin

Jeff Hussey, President and CEO: Jeff is the pioneer of the Identity-Defined Networking market. As an accomplished entrepreneur and business leader with a proven track record in the networking and security markets, Hussey also founded F5 Networks, the global leader in application delivery and an S&P500 listed company. He maintains numerous board positions across a variety of technology, non-profit and philanthropic organizations. Currently, Hussey is the chairman of the board for Carena and chairman and co-owner of Ecofiltro and PuraVidaCreateGood. Hussey also serves on the board for Webaroo and the Seattle Symphony. He was the chairman of the board for Lockdown Networks, which was sold to McAfee in 2008. Hussey received a BA in Finance from SPU and an MBA from the University of Washington.­­­