Lauren Beck is the former editor of Dockwalk and was with the publication from 2006 to 2023. At 13, she left South Africa aboard a 34-foot sailing boat with her family and ended up in St. Maarten for six years. Before college, she worked as crew for a year, and then cut her journalistic teeth at Better Homes and Gardens and Ladies’ Home Journal online. She loves traveling, reading, tennis, and rooting for the Boston Red Sox.
Network security and cybersecurity grow in importance by the day. A superyacht is no exception — safe connections are essential, and companies are always striving to improve. Isotropic Networks, a provider of maritime communications solutions, recently launched Pendragon, a platform that provides “fully optimized Internet from multiple sources paired with localized next-generation cybersecurity.”
As Hank Zbierski, CEO and founder of Isotropic Networks, shares, new Internet connections are becoming more accessible, but they also bring more complicated operating procedures and security regulations. “As a result, there is a growing need to evolve how we look at network management and cyber security on superyachts with an eye toward streamlining and automating the processes associated with switching between diverse Internet pipelines and optimizing throughput smoothly and efficiently while making sure that local networks are safe and secure,” Zbierski says.
This is what Pendragon does — it works across all networks (single, multi-use, and hybrid) to identify and address any cybersecurity risk. “It’s your next generation network management and cyber security system in a single server,” Zbierski says, explaining further that it uses Edge Computing and AI “to monitor, command, protect, and optimize network throughput in real time.” As he explains, Pendragon is a “single server SD-WAN-enabled and network aggregation device that also operates as a Security Operations Center (SOC)-in-a-box backed by 24/7/365 remote monitoring and support services.”
In one instance, Pendragon identified and isolated a mobile device with a virus that was brought on board as a test.
Pendragon has been tested aboard several yachts, Zbierski says, where it is working “flawlessly.” In one instance, Pendragon identified and isolated a mobile device with a virus that was brought on board as a test. Pendragon has also been tested with both Starlink and OneWeb broadband Internet satellite systems. “The successful integration demonstrates that when paired with Pendragon, these systems and virtually any other land or space-based Internet inputs will benefit and operate with an additional layer of cyber security and network efficiency,” he says.
Pendragon grew from Isotropic Networks’ experience as satellite providers and seeing firsthand the challenges clients faced navigating safe, reliable connections. They wanted to offer a solution. “So we created a platform that first gave us total insight into network activity, allowing us to identify challenges,” he says. That understanding formed the base to which they added more functionality based on client and market need.
Pendragon launched in the second quarter of 2022, and is priced at $999 per month.