In message <Pine.BSD/ .
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Leonard Miyata writes:
> Besides Boing's secure network, Gemini Computer's GEMSOS kernal, and of
> course the original Honeywell Multics, what other "A-1" systems are out
> there to gain experiance on?
Honeywell's MULTICS was not A1. It was B2. You are confusing it with
Honeywell's SCOMP, which was indeed one of only two systems *ever* to pass the
A1 evaluation.
Gemini's GEMSOS has been in evaluation for a long time. I have no idea where it
is in the evaluation process, and if it is any closer to attaining the
evaluation I was told by a Gemini representative it was supposedly going to
attain sometime back in 1993.
The SCC LOCK platform was "designed to A1 level criteria" or some such.
However, recent scuttlebutt is that it was pulled out of evaluation, probably
because SCC is now frantically busy redesigning their system from the ground up.
TIS and Wang Federal (formerly HFSI, formerly Honeywell Federal Systems) have
taken a more pragmatic approach to the problem. Given the functionality of an
A1 system and the functionality of a B3 system are *identical*, we decided the
added documentation/mathematical proofs required to attain the A1 evaluation
were not worth the extra effort and cost, particularly as most users seem
willing to take on the added risk of using a B3 to meet what would be, according
to the Yellow Book matrix, and A1 requirement. Indeed, I know a lot of users
who are using a *B1* to meet an A1 requirement, mainly because B1 systems (i.e.,
CMW) are cheaper over the system's lifecycle, more functional, and give them a
larger number of potential platforms to choose from.
The frustrating (to a high-assurance system provider) fact is that perceived
security risk is, at least in part, directly proportional to the amount of money
a customer is willing to spend on the security countermeasure. It's amazing
just how much risk a user is willing to swallow if he has only $1M to throw at a
$10M problem.
Karen Goertzel
Manager, International Programmes and Special Projects
Secure Systems and Services Operation
Wang Federal, Inc.
7900 Westpark Drive - MS 700
McLean, Virginia 22102-4299
TEL: 703-827 3914
FAX: 703-827 3161
Internet: goertzek @
wangfed .
com
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| Human history becomes more and more a |
| race between education and catastrophe. |
| - H.G. Wells |
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