The UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has unveiled a new technology designed to protect video connections from cyber-attacks.
The device, dubbed SilentGlass, was launched on April 22 at CYBERUK, the UK government’s flagship annual cybersecurity conference.
SilentGlass is plug-and-play device designed to actively block anything unexpected or malicious between HDMI or display port connections and monitor screens. It is approved for use in even the most high-threat cybersecurity environments.
The device has already been successfully deployed on government estates, and now SilentGlass has been released for anyone to buy and use.
The NCSC has partnered with Goldilock Labs and Sony UK to manufacture and sell SilentGlass globally.
Monitors a Target For Cyber-Attacks
The NCSC has warned that monitors can be a attractive target for malicious threat actors because of how they are used to hold and process valuable, sensitive or personal data.
According to the agency, that means that cyber threat actors are likely to abuse access to monitors to infiltrate networks for malicious activities such as disruption or financial gain, taking advantage of a lack of mitigations in this area.
SilentGlass can been developed to help to shut down this attack vector.
“Display screens and monitors are everywhere in modern business environments, and the SilentGlass device will help protect previously vulnerable IT infrastructure with unprecedented ease,” said Ollie Whitehouse, CTO at NCSC.
“Its development and commercialization shows the impact that the NCSC can have, alongside industry partners, with an affordable and effective product now globally available. By helping to launch a UK company onto the global market with this world-class innovation, we are breaking new ground and helping to strengthen national prosperity,” he added.
Goldilock Labs, a UK-based small business described as experts in cyber security innovation, was awarded the contract license to manufacture SmartGlass, after what the NCSC described as “a competitive process.”
“SilentGlass addresses a gap that has been widely overlooked. The hardware interfaces people rely on every day have rarely been treated as security boundaries, despite being exposed to risk through supply chains, third-party servicing, and direct physical access,” said Stephen Kines, co-founder of Goldilock Labs.
“What was once confined to national security environments is now being applied with a low-cost, easy to deploy solution for CNI and businesses where the same risks exist.”
Goldilock, Sony and the NCSC said they expect rapid global adoption of SilentGlass by governments and risk-conscious organizations. The NCSC pointed to SilentGlass as an example of how government intellectual property can be successfully commercialized.
Now in it’s tenth year, with the 2026 edition hosted in Glasgow, Scotland, CYBERUK 26 kicked off with a speech by Richard Horne, CEO of the NCSC. He warned that a “perfect storm” of new technologies and geopolitical risks have created the risk of unprecedented cyber threats for the UK