A simple, off-the-shelf internet service provider toolset.

Dorso is a toolset for starting your own robust and secure branch of the internet backbone. It consists of two categories of products - the Zeitgeist-based DNS-like software, and the plug-and-play hardware on which the software runs. Dorso has a variety of use cases and is intended to be a simple way of setting up a personal or enterprise-level internal internet backbone. It can act as a virtual and physical barrier to entry for the private network as well as a firewall from dangerous external cyber threats.

How It Works

The Dorso toolset is used to create a simple private network that is able to provide connectivity over multiple communication standards like Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and IoT protocols like Z-Wave and Zigbee. It connects to a network’s primary internet access point (to the ISP or internet backbone) and can be connected to by any authorized device.

Dorso can be used by individuals or enterprises to boost their network connectivity capabilities without risking performance or security. Dorso hardware products are specifically designed for performance, but can also offer robust connectivity where cables cannot be lain and traditional wireless internet access over Wi-Fi is impossible. Dorso products are offered at a variety of price points for various implementations to provide connectivity and peace-of-mind to the widest range of customers.

Some Use Cases

Healthcare

The healthcare industry is fraught with HIPAA compliance-related restrictions. Personally identifying information (PII) cannot be sent easily over normal data protocols like HTTP or SMTP because these channels may inadvertently expose the data to parts of the internet backbone that do not have the permissions to view it. This makes the development of potentially life-saving healthcare-related digital tools an extremely costly and slow process and generally results in products that require much more specialized maintenance professionals to operate.

Dorso can circumvent the issues that standard hardware and software architecture cause by seamlessly integrating high-speed connection to the world-wide-web with a non-virtual private network. This means that all connections to the Dorso network (or Zeitgeist) can be treated as trusted connections and would no longer face the same restrictions. Dorso’s application of the Zeitgeist model also lends itself well to simple IoT connectivity meaning that IoT-connected medical equipment can be added to the Dorso network with little to no additional cost or security considerations.

Banking and Investing

The banking world regularly needs to handle many high-risk assets like PII, account information, and calculated portfolio speculations. This information is extremely confidential and highly sensitive but must be handled efficiently and with precision. In many cases, the algorithms used to create, store and act upon this information (trading algorithms) have to work in sub-millisecond time frames meaning most obfuscation mechanisms like hashing and encryption algorithms may not provide the speed required to gain the upper hand. This means that data cannot be transferred and must be co-located on the same hardware as the trading algorithms. This ramps up cost and prevents horizontal scaling.

Dorso can provide a high-speed backbone consisting of highly robust connections that can access external data while also handling secure and high-speed data transfer internally with ease. Because internal data and services are inaccessible to external networks, Dorso can provide the effect of co-location without the cost associated with infinite scale potential.

Research and Development

Research and development of many products can be an arduous and costly process. Many firms in development-focused and high-turnaround industries (like the pharmaceutical and the high-tech industries) will, therefore, choose to hold much of their valuable intellectual property as confidential information and trade secrets rather than patenting them. This creates a security risk for the firm which may find itself investing heavily in networks like virtual private networks (VPNs). While VPNs can provide some security against the risk of data leaks, they still may require data to travel over public networks, even when accessing colocated services.

Dorso provides a simple alternative to virtual private networks that can be used for data transfer within a firm’s physical location. The network can be used for anything from digital log transfer to IoT monitoring for IoT-connected research equipment, to firm-wide cloud services like cloud computing for data modeling. Dorso can be used to secure networks through which information as sensitive as keys or as vital as warehouse management instructions can be sent with no fear of man-in-the-middle attacks or network snooping.

Hazardous Operations

Some industries, like the emergency services industry, may need to deal with connectivity in hazardous or low-connectivity locations. In situations like these, even just the signaling from IoT-connected safety devices could significantly increase the safety of the device operators. In cases like firefighting or search-and-rescue operations in low-visibility, Dorso can provide a robust mobile datastream of vital information to the rescue workers about the locations’ safety provisions like hydrant specifics or emergency exit locations. The service workers or volunteers can carry inexpensive mobile hotspots that can connect to wireless internet networks like 4G and emit low-frequency signals over Z-Wave or Zigbee to provide an unimpeded data channel transmittable through walls and other barriers to the people and devices who need it most.

Formal Education and Government

In schools and government buildings, the prevention of harmful cyberattacks is paramount. Oftentimes the most vulnerable distributed networks are those owned by universities or government research institutions. The prevention of these attacks generally stops as firewalls and simple anti-DoS mechanisms due to budget constraints. The unfortunate reality is that these institutions are, in fact, the most valuable targets for exploitation due to their low security and large networks.

Dorso can provide a buffer between external attack and the members of the network, providing a safe, cost-effective toolset for creating and maintaining internet networks while remaining malleable and robust enough to grow and shift with changing security concerns. The network can also be a valuable asset for protection against internal attacks by physically limiting network members’ access to dangerous or otherwise harmful content and services rather than virtually blocking them with easily sidestepped firewalls.

Cost Expectations

{TODO}

Implementation Restrictions

While Dorso is built with both scale and flexibility in mind, the following intentional restrictions are integral to the functionality of the Dorso toolset:

• Dorso is not intended to be virtualized and therefore is not a viable virtual alternative to a VPN.
• Dorso’s networking software does not provide any protocol-level encryption.
• Dorso handles connectivity for physical networks and manages traversal best over well-defined, opinionated networks (networks whose node addresses are standardized).

These restrictions allow the administrator of the network to describe the security and architecture of their networks themselves. They allow SSL connections and end-to-end encryption node-side rather than slowing down the communication by putting the weight on the network switches. The network also relies heavily on Zeit Tokens and the Zeitgeist model in general to provide a unified network description over its many connection types, simplifying the description process of the network for the administrators.