DENVER – 83% of police chiefs attending the International Association of Chiefs of Police 2024 conference told Panasonic Connect they want to take advantage of new technology. In the same survey, 89% of those same chiefs also reported that they have trouble recruiting and retaining new personnel.
With limited time and resources, full staffing is always going to be a top priority, and because of this chiefs may have less bandwidth for overseeing the critical task of securing the highly sensitive data entrusted to their organization. At the same time, cyberattacks have gotten more sophisticated than ever, pushing beyond simple end-user phishing attacks to attacking supply chains, installing rogue hardware and probing for device vulnerabilities below the operating system.
Product: Knowing that police chiefs are time and resource constrained, Panasonic Connect has launched a new end-to-end hardware and software application protection package, TOUGHBOOK Total Defense, to protect their devices from attack so law enforcement leaders and their personnel can focus on protecting their communities.
What it does: The Panasonic TOUGHBOOK Total Defense solution delivers supply chain risk management and device protection from the factory to the field. This pyramid of protection, which is a new and novel solution from Panasonic, helps its customers meet CJIS Security Policy v6.0 requirements for data protection and supply chain security.
Key features: The TOUGHBOOK Total Defense pyramid of protection starts at the factory by building protection below the device’s operating system.
TOUGHBOOK Guard sits at the base of the pyramid of protection. This recently released security solution is embedded firmware security, below the operating system, that is designed to detect rogue hardware or tampering.
“This feature of TOUGHBOOK Guard helps agencies meet the FBI’s CJIS Security compliance requirements for supply chain security,” said Michael Sarallo, director of public sector at Panasonic Connect.
After the device is delivered to the department and their users, TOUGHBOOK Guard continues to monitor the device for hardware changes such as switching a barcode reader with a DVD drive. If a hardware change is detected using a nonapproved device, the TOUGHBOOK will automatically lock. The user must then contact IT for assistance. After the lock and alert, IT can remotely restore the device and add the new hardware to the approved list. This ensures unauthorized devices won’t gain access without prior IT approval.
The next level of the pyramid of protection is Smart Compliance, powered by Eclypsium, which protects the firmware of endpoint devices, servers, and networking equipment. Smart Compliance gives departments continuous monitoring of IT equipment during procurement, deployment and operation and can detect vulnerabilities, threats, and any changes to the OS and firmware. This level of protection is also important for complying with firmware security guidelines.
The next layer in the comprehensive device protection package is SentinelOne, which is real-time protection against ransomware and zero-day threats, protecting the agency’s devices and data. If the device’s OS is attacked, SentinelOne using AI-powered endpoint defense, even when devices are offline, can:
- Isolate the attack and secure the device.
- Roll back the device to its pre-attack settings.
- Continue to monitor for additional attacks or compromise.
A partnership with Absolute gives real-time telemetry to devices with TOUGHBOOK Total Defense. This level of endpoint security allows for constant monitoring for any changes to the device or key applications and supports remote device control. This feature lets departments:
- Issue a “kill pill” if a device is lost or stolen.
- Geofence a device to the department’s jurisdiction.
- Receive an alert to IT if the device crosses the geofence.
- Self-heal essential applications when they are tampered with. This includes persisting the Eclypsium and SentinelOne agents, which are key pillars of the Total Defense strategy.
“With TOUGHBOOK Total Defense, police departments can focus on policing while we monitor and secure their technology – hardware, software applications and firmware – from end-to-end,” Sarallo said.
