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There are two important characteristics of a trusted operating
system: features and assurance. Features are, for example, user
identification and authentication, access control, auditing, etc.
Assurance is making sure the TOS is as secure as it claims to
be. We must rate the confidence we have in the operating system
and determine for what needs the OS can be used for. In order
to determine this, several criteria have been developed over the
years. Many governments have their own requirements for different
trusted operating systems, and in this section we will give information
on different criteria and certification bodies.
A TOS evaluation is done by independent, government-certified
labs. As mentioned earlier, the evaluation looks at both functionality
and assurance. These labs look at the entire development process
of a TOS: design, engineering environment, quality assurance,
site security, development procedures, administrator documentation,
testing, etc. An important part of the evaluation is inspecting
design documents and source code. Penetration testing and independent
vulnerability analysis is done.
One book that has a very good overview on trusted operating
systems, criteria, and evaluations is Security in Computing
by Charles P. Pfleeger. It gives a very good description on the
history of TOS and evaluation procedures.
If you have a lot of questions about the evaluation process,
there is a very good FAQ.
Here is a slide show given by Argus Systems Group about the
evaluation process. It includes several interesting graphics.
Contact Us if you have a slide show that
you would like posted here.
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