SGI, Novell get security stamp

Linux continues to show that it is a secure and stable operating system for both the public and private sector.

Silicon Graphics, Inc. officials announced earlier this week that Novell’s SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 running on SGI Altix servers and supercomputers now meets security criteria required by the U.S. Department of Defense and governments worldwide.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 on Altix systems has attained Evaluation Assurance Level 3+ of the Common Criteria for Information Security Evaluation. The operating system was evaluated under full compliance with the Controlled Access Protection Profile on a SGI Altix 3700 Bx2 supercomputer and on a SGI Altix 350 midrange server, SGI officials said.

The certification means that Novell’s 64-bit Linux running on SGI Altix servers meets a wide range of information technology standards that government and military agencies require of the technology they purchase. The operating system and servers were tested and evaluated in the areas of identification and authentication, auditing, security management and cryptography.

Common Criteria certification, an international standard for evaluating the security of systems, requires that hardware and software be methodically tested at a high level of design, said Lori Gilbertson, engineering manager for CoreOS Development with SGI.

Common Criteria is one level of security evaluation SGI is undergoing, Gilbertson said. “We’re looking at more [types of testing] to prevent break-ins.”