Industry Watch
Products meet fed security guides Products from two companies have completed computer security evaluations under the new Trust Technology Assessment Program, a joint initiative between the National Security Agency and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The commoncriteria security
Products meet fed security guides
Products from two companies have completed computer security evaluations under the new Trust Technology Assessment Program, a joint initiative between the National Security Agency and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
The common-criteria security guidelines that the products were tested against replace the Trusted Product Evaluation Program, which NSA began in 1983. NSA used the TPEP to test products against guidelines in what is known as the Orange Book.
Cisco Systems Inc. has received an Evaluation Assurance Level 2 certificate for its PIX Firewall. Lucent Technologies received a EAL 2 certificate for its Lucent Managed Firewall. Under this program, products can receive certification at levels 0 through 8, with 8 providing the highest level of security assurance. EAL 2 means that the product was functionally tested. It is equivalent to the old Orange Book rating of C1—discretionary security protection.
In addition, IBM's RS/6000 Distributed System server was evaluated against the Orange Book criteria and received a C2 certificate, which certifies controlled access protection. In the rating system, C2 is a basic or low level of security built on individual accountability and is for systems that need controlled-access protection.
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FDC offers feds software from Muse
Muse Technologies Inc. announced last week that Federal Data Corp. will begin offering Muse's data visualization and collaboration software products to the federal government.
Muse, based in Albuquerque, N.M., develops software products designed to enhance a computer user's ability to visualize, analyze and understand large and diverse forms of data using Unix and Microsoft Corp. Windows NT-based systems.
The company also develops collaborative software designed to enable users to work together over local and global networks.
Agencies including NASA, the Navy, the Air Force and the Energy Department's Los Alamos National Laboratory have used the company's software to tackle data visualization challenges. NASA is using collaboration software to connect three of its spacecraft design centers to allow engineers to work together across distances.
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IBM adds security to ThinkPad
IBM Corp. last month introduced its new ThinkPad 770Z and 600E notebooks with Asset ID, IBM's radio frequency-based security technology. Asset ID includes a radio frequency ID tag and handheld frequency scanner to track each notebook. It also can be used to prevent unauthorized removal of sensitive data because when a notebook with Asset ID passes through an area protected by a frequency sensor, Asset ID automatically will password-protect the ThinkPad.