Companies Enter Common Criteria Evaluation to Make
Red Hat Enterprise Linux a Government Certified, Trusted
Operating System
HERNDON, Va., RALEIGH, N.C. and ARMONK, N.Y., Sept. 27 /PRNewswire/ --
Trusted Computer Solutions, Inc. (TCS), a leading supplier of information
sharing technologies to the Department of Defense, the intelligence community
and commercial industry, together with Red Hat (Nasdaq: RHAT), the world's
leading provider of open source solutions to the enterprise, and IBM
(NYSE: IBM), today announced that Red Hat Enterprise Linux is in Common
Criteria evaluation on a broad range of IBM eServer systems. This evaluation
will mean that the Red Hat Enterprise Linux meets government security
standards for assured information sharing within and across government
agencies.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux v.5 officially entered The National Information
Assurance Partnership (NIAP) approved Common Criteria Evaluation & Validation
Scheme (CCEVS) this month to bring a new level of security and assurance to
Linux. This operating platform contains kernel and Security Enhanced Linux
(SELinux) policy enhancements, developed by IBM, Red Hat, TCS and the
community. TCS security enhancements augment the security features of the
National Security Agency's SELinux.
The joint effort enables high-value, proven, cross-domain security
applications -- such as TCS SecureOffice(R) NetTop(R) and NetTop2 - Thin
Client, which allow users access to multiple security levels on a single
computer -- to run on Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
"For years our customers have been clamoring for the look, feel,
flexibility, and functionality of today's commercial software," said Susan
Alexander, chief of information assurance research at the NSA. "With NetTop,
based on SELinux, they can get just such an environment...without compromising
on security."
Prior to the general availability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux v.5 and in
compliance with NSTISSP No. 11 National Policy, government agencies can now
acquire and implement TCS cross-domain security applications based on a Linux
trusted operating system platform. Red Hat Enterprise Linux v.5 will be the
first open source distribution with these capabilities.
IBM is sponsoring the certification of Red Hat Enterprise Linux v.5 and
has entered the CCEVS at Evaluation Assurance Level 4 (EAL4) and will include
the security functionality defined in three protection profiles recognized by
the Common Criteria: Labeled Security Protection Profile (LSPP), Controlled
Access Protection Profile (CAPP), and Role-Based Access Control Protection
Profile (RBAC). These profiles support the requirements of Director of Central
Intelligence Directive (DCID) 6/3 at Protection Level 4, which specifies
security intelligence-related information and systems measures, including
those necessary for Top Secret and Below Interoperability (TSABI).
This CCEVS evaluation means Red Hat Enterprise Linux will reach a level of
security previously achieved by only a handful of trusted operating systems.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is now positioned to provide best-of-breed security
capabilities for commercial operating systems, offering the government, as
well as businesses, unprecedented choice for security applications. The
benefits included broader hardware platform choice, reduced cost and IT
complexity, improved access to data for decision making and improved
government collaboration and intelligence sharing.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux v.5 is anticipated to be in general availability
from Red Hat in late 2006. However, in compliance with NSTISSP No. 11 National
Policy, the functionality is available today from TCS as a component of their
commercial products.
"Red Hat Enterprise Linux will join an exclusive community of trusted
operating systems that have achieved this level of security," said Ed
Hammersla, chief operating officer at TCS. "The powerful collaboration between
IBM, Red Hat, NSA and TCS is going to shake things up, and means our customers
have a safe open source alternative to run our SecureOffice suite of
application software."
"IBM is joining with Red Hat and TCS to enhance its offerings to the
government market with solutions that support both open standards and
government security standards," said Anne Altman, IBM's managing director of
US Federal. "This announcement represents another example of IBM's ongoing
commitment to supplying solutions to the government market, and its commitment
to expanding the adoption of Linux throughout government and government
agencies."
"In a relatively short period of time Linux has come to be known as a
standard, secure computing platform," said Brian Stevens, vice president of
Operating Systems Development at Red Hat. "This new level of certification is
a testament to the power of collaboration. IBM, TCS, the NSA, Red Hat and the
community have worked together to bring the Linux platform forward with rapid
innovation in the area of security. This collaboration and evaluation effort
will make Red Hat Enterprise Linux the most secure open source operating
system platform available."
IBM is working with Red Hat to sponsor the certification of Red Hat
Enterprise Linux v.5 on multiple platforms to maximize choice and value for
customers. Red Hat Enterprise Linux v.5 will be evaluated on IBM server
brands, including: xSeries, pSeries, zSeries and BladeCenter. IBM's server
product line offers customers industry-leading performance together with
application flexibility, solution choice, and outstanding scalability,
reliability and security. IBM's Linux Technology center is working with the
open source community and contributing code to this effort. IBM selected atsec
information security, a vendor-independent consulting company in the business
of IT security, as the certification lab for this effort.
For more information on Red Hat Enterprise Linux security certifications,
please visit
https://www.redhat.com/solutions/industries/government/.
For more information on NetTop(R) and NetTop2 Thin Client applications
from TCS, please visit
http://www.trustedcs.com/products/1products1_1_5.html.
For more information on IBM's eServer line of products, please visit
http://www.ibm.com/eServer.
For more information on the CCEVS evaluation, taking place in Austin,
Texas please visit
http://niap.nist.gov/cc-scheme/in_evaluation.html#r.
About Trusted Computer Solutions, Inc.
Founded in 1994, Trusted Computer Solutions (TCS) is an industry leader in
cyber security and information sharing software products. TCS products and
services offer a simple solution that enables government and commercial
organizations to securely share information while protecting vital information
assets. TCS products strike the right balance between Information Protection
and Information Sharing, something vital in today's environment. TCS Products
adhere to the most stringent security standards set by U. S. Government
Agencies such as the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Security
Agency. The company's SecureOffice(R) products, which run on Sun Trusted
Solaris and Red Hat Linux are installed and accredited in operational systems
around the world today protecting our nation's most sensitive digital
information. TCS is headquartered in Herndon, Va., with offices in Urbana,
Ill. and San Antonio, Tx. For more information, visit http://www.TrustedCS.com
About Red Hat, Inc.
Red Hat, the world's leading open source and Linux provider, is
headquartered in Raleigh, NC with satellite offices spanning the globe. Red
Hat is leading Linux and open source solutions into the mainstream by making
high quality, low cost technology accessible. Red Hat provides operating
system software along with middleware, applications and management solutions.
Red Hat also offers support, training and consulting services to its customers
worldwide and through top-tier partnerships. Red Hat's Open Source strategy
offers customers a long term plan for building infrastructures that are based
on and leverage open source technologies with focus on security and ease of
management. Learn more: http://www.redhat.com
About IBM
IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years
of leadership in helping businesses innovate. Drawing on resources from across
IBM and key Business Partners, IBM offers a wide range of services, solutions
and technologies that enable customers, large and small, to take full
advantage of the new era of e-business. For more information, visit
http://www.ibm.com/linux.
SOURCE Trusted Computer Solutions, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.TrustedCS.com
http://www.redhat.com http://www.ibm.com/linux
CONTACT:
Marie Farrar of DBC Public Relations Experts,
+1-202-298-7600 x214, Marie@dbcpr.com, for Trusted Computer
Solutions; or Leigh Day of Red Hat, Inc., +1-919-754-3700 ext.
44369, lday@redhat.com; or Mike Darcy of IBM, +1-914-766-4777,
mdarcy@us.ibm.com
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