Air Gap Data Transfer via Pictorial Display and OCR

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Current cybersecurity methods fail to effectively detect and extract malicious code from digital data streams, leading to risks of transmission into secure networks from open networks, and existing air gap systems embed digital content in code for transport, introducing risks of exposure to malicious code and data corruption.

Innovation Solution

The solution involves extracting digital content from digital data streams, displaying it as pictorial images across an analog air gap, capturing the images, and converting them into clean digital content files using optical character recognition, thereby blocking malicious code without recognizing it, ensuring secure transmission.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If digital content is embedded in digital code for transport across air gap, then data transmission efficiency is improved, but risk of malicious code transmission and data corruption increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata transmission efficiencyVSAvoidmalicious code transmission risk

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts digital content from digital code by displaying the content as pictorial images and capturing them optically, separating the useful information from the potentially harmful code structure

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces digital code-based transmission with an optical analog system using pictorial character displays and image capture, substituting electronic data transfer with optical imaging to eliminate malicious code risks

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Reliability

If digital data streams are processed to detect malicious code, then security is improved, but processing time and computational resources increase

Engineering Contradiction:

ImprovesecurityVSAvoidprocessing time

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of detecting malicious code in digital data streams, the patent inverts the approach by converting digital content to pictorial displays and capturing optically, achieving security through format transformation rather than detection

Inventive Principle:

Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent extracts only the visual content elements from digital data, displaying them as pictorial characters and capturing the image, thereby eliminating the need for complex malicious code detection processing

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Object-affected harmful factors

If digital content is displayed as pictorial images and captured optically, then malicious code transmission is blocked, but data transmission speed decreases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemalicious code blockingVSAvoiddata transmission speed

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSSpeed

Solution Approach 1:

The patent creates optical copies of digital content as pictorial images for transmission across the air gap, using image capture and OCR to reconstruct the data, providing a secure copy mechanism that blocks malicious code

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces pictorial character displays as an intermediary medium between the digital data source and the receiving system, using optical imaging and OCR algorithms as mediators to transfer content without transmitting original digital code

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

This approach prevents the transmission of malicious code and data corruption by converting digital content into pictorial images for secure storage, ensuring the integrity and security of data in closed networks while eliminating the risk of bidirectional data transmission.

Implementation Method 1

display device displaying a pictorial image of the digital content

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectLight emission from display device: Light

Implementation Method 2

image sensor capturing the pictorial image displayed on the display device

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectPhotoelectric detection: Photoelectric Effect

Data Source

PatentUS20230229768A1Apparatus and Method for Blocking Malicious Code Embedded in Digital Data

Publication Date: 2023.07.20 SNYDER JAMES PAUL STEWART

AI summary

The present invention is a device, system, and method for improving network security using pictorial communication and in preferred embodiments optical character recognition for the communication of digital information so as to block malicious code embedded in digital data. More specifically, the present invention in preferred embodiments receives a digital data stream from an open network; identifies and extracts desired digital content from the digital data stream; deletes all remaining digital data; displays the extracted digital content as an pictorial image containing alphanumeric or other characters on one side of an analog air gap; captures the pictorial image on the opposite side of the air gap in a closed network; converts the pictorial image to a digital image file; uses optical character recognition algorithms to recognize and convert the pictorial image into a clean digital content file; and stores a copy of the clean digital content file in the closed network.