RE: Re: Trusted OS... trusting the company that builds them

["Anton J Aylward" <anton () the-wire com>]

Speaking of these products, how much confidence do we have
in the financial stability and future of the companies that
build them?   How do they hold up?

We can debate the technical merits all day, but if the company
turns to fairy dust of any colour, what use is the software?

Anton J Aylward

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Patrick Bryan
> Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2000 12:42 AM
>
>
> Speaking of Sidewinder, how does it hold up when compared to other
> firewalls, such as Gauntlet and FW1?
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Paul McNabb" <mcnabb () argus-systems com>
> To: <mjr () nfr net>
> Cc: <firewall-wizards () nfr net>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2000 12:57 PM
> Subject: Re: [fw-wiz] Re: Trusted OS...
>
>
> > >  From mjr () nfr net  Thu Mar 23 13:10:30 2000
> > >
> > >  >Secure Computing - Sidewinder (BSD)
> > >
> > >  Are you sure about that? Secure computing makes a trusted operating
> > >  system (called LOCK, if I recall correctly) but Sidewinder was based
> > >  on BSDI with some orange book fairy dust blown on it - I don't think
> > >  it was a _real_ trusted operating system, just good old BSDI 
> (which is
> > >  probably better) with some hacks in it to include the domain/type
> > >  enforcement stuff.
> >
> > Yes, I classify Sidewinder on BSDI as a trusted OS (in addition to the
> > LOCK stuff), because it implements a mandatory access control policy
> > which is universally applied and it provides the ability to control
> > privilege operations, both of which are defining characteristics of a
> > trusted OS (along with the design/implementation process that 
> is intended
> > to meet evaluation criteria).  The fact that domain type enforcement is
> > not a Bell-LaPadula model doesn't eliminate it from the running.
> >
> > What is "orange book fairy dust"?
> >
> > paul
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------
> > Paul A. McNabb, CISSP           Argus Systems Group, Inc.
> > Senior Vice President and CTO   1809 Woodfield Drive
> > mcnabb () argus-systems com        Savoy, IL 61874 USA
> > TEL 217-355-6308
> > FAX 217-355-1433                "Securing the Future"
> > ---------------------------------------------------------