NSA offers supersecure Linux

[R. A. Hettinga]

NSA offers supersecure Linux
By Deni Connor
4 October, 2001 11:20
Framingham, U.S.
http://www.computerworld.com.au/idg2.nsf/a/00043016?OpenDocument&n=e&c=CP

The National Security Agency, the government's security arm, along with
help from Network Associates, last week announced it has made a
security-enhanced version of Linux available for download.

The NSA said it realises that operating system security is necessary and
that mainstream operating systems often lack critical security features
that could enforce the confidentiality and integrity of network
communications. Dubbed Security-Enhanced (SE) Linux, the NSA's version
allows programs to have only the slimmest security permissions to run.

SE Linux has a strong, yet flexible, access control architecture
incorporated into the kernel to foil tampering and bypassing of security
mechanisms. The NSA chose Linux as a platform for this work because of
its open environment. SE Linux does not correct any flaws in Linux, but
rather serves as an example of how mandatory access controls, including
superuser access, can be added to Linux.

With SE Linux, it is possible to configure a system that meets a number
of security objectives such as roles-based access.

At present, SE Linux only supports the Intel Corp. x86 platform and has
only been tested on Red Hat Inc. Linux.

The release includes documentation and source code. Users can download it
from http://www.nsa.gov/selinux/index.html The NSA is at
http://www.nsa.gov

-- 
-----------------
R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'



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