Athena Security, Leader in Physical Entryway Protection and Innovation, Now Innovates On The Digital Front Door with H-Shield

AUSTIN, Texas, July 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Athena Security, the company renowned for innovation in securing your physical entryways with its weapon detection system platform, today announced it is extending its security mission from the physical front door to the digital front door. The company has launched H-Shield which protects a healthcare organization's most critical digital assets PHI and PII information.

The current healthcare threat landscape has proven that perimeter defenses are no longer enough. A recent, massive cyberattack on a major healthcare payment clearinghouse in North America, which impacted an estimated one-third of the population, demonstrates a critical vulnerability in modern enterprise: the network's reliance on DNS. H-Shield is designed to prevent such attacks before they can begin.  An example of a feature of H-Shield is stopping DNS-based reconnaissance.

"We built our reputation guarding the physical entryway to buildings, stopping threats before they can enter. With H-Shield, we are applying that same proactive philosophy to the digital front door of your organization," said Lisa Falzone, President of Athena Security. "We are prioritizing our life-safety customers first because their need to protect their clients' PII and PHI data is absolute. H-Shield puts an intelligent gatekeeper at the most fundamental point of network communication—"

How H-Shield Redefines Security:

H-Shield is a private, authenticated, and authoritative DNS platform that introduces several innovations:

• Unified Domain for Enhanced Anonymity and Simplicity: H-Shield revolutionizes secure access by directing all clients to a single, universal domain: wds.athena-security.com. Unlike traditional platforms that often expose their client base through unique subdomains, H-Shield leverages proprietary routing technology to direct traffic to each customer's separate, dedicated server infrastructure. This unified approach significantly enhances security by making it impossible to identify which specific company is utilizing the service. Furthermore, it creates a seamless user experience, eliminating the need to manage different login addresses across multiple territories or applications, thereby dramatically simplifying setup and daily use.
• Advanced Security Architecture: H-Shield's security architecture goes beyond conventional methods like Split-horizon DNS. While Split-horizon DNS merely filters what a user can see (potentially exposing all internal and external entries if a DNS server is compromised), This crucial distinction ensures that even if a DNS server is hacked, attackers will only gain access to external entries, never internal data they shouldn't see. This multi-layered defense eliminates DNS-based reconnaissance, providing unparalleled data isolation and anonymity.
• A Digital Handshake for Every Connection: When a legitimate user's system requests a connection, H-Shield provides not only the server's IP address (A Record) but also a secret, single-use digital token within a companion text field (TXT Record). The endpoint server requires this token to grant access. Any connection attempt without this valid token is instantly rejected, making secure systems invisible and inaccessible to unauthorized scanners and malware.
• Mandatory Infrastructure for Core Products: Every new deployment of Athena's concealed weapon detection on-prem or private cloud and visitor management systems will now have H-Shield integrated as a mandatory security component, ensuring the systems and the networks they operate on are fundamentally secure with easy management as it only requires an Enterprise MDM Solution to install.
• Zero-Trust for Vendor & Data Protection: H-Shield operates on a "zero-trust" model by maintaining an "allow-list" of approved domains. This isolates the network and prevents unvetted vendor software from becoming a vector for data exfiltration, directly safeguarding critical PII and PHI data from being compromised.

H-Shield: Elevating Security Standards for Healthcare

Effective immediately, H-Shield will be a core component of all Athena Security deployments for our Weapon Detection System and Visitor Management System within the healthcare sector.

This advanced platform is exclusively available to healthcare clients who implement on-premise or private cloud versions of our WDS or VMS. Athena Security is committed to a clear message for the business community: physical security must be a proactive, foundational measure, not an afterthought.

We believe that human lives are paramount, and their physical safety must always take precedence over digital assets. To underscore this commitment, Athena requires organizations to secure their physical premises before they can leverage the innovative H-Shield platform for their digital security needs. Without this foundational physical security, Athena will not provide access to H-Shield to protect against reconnaissance, ransomware and other malware attacks. This policy reflects our dedication to comprehensive security solutions that prioritize the immediate safety of individuals within healthcare environments.'

Contact:
Ashley Villegas
833-928-4362
[email protected]

SOURCE Athena Security