The CICA Windows Explosion!/The CICA Windows Explosion! - Disc 2.iso/nt/ntkb.zip/NTKB.EXE/Q93/3/62.TXT

Text File | 1993-09-28 | 5KB | 113 lines

DOCUMENT:Q93362  24-SEP-1993  [W_NT]
TITLE   :C2 Evaluation and Certification for Windows NT
PRODUCT :Windows NT
PROD/VER:3.10
OPER/SYS:WINDOWS
KEYWORDS:

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The information in this article applies to:

 - Microsoft Windows NT operating system version 3.1
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Summary:

C2 refers to a set of security policies that define how a secure
system operates. The C2 evaluation process is separate from the C2
certification process. At the current time, Windows NT is being
evaluated at the C2 level by the National Security Agency (NSA). If
the evaluation is successful, Windows NT will receive a C2 rating and
will be added to the Evaluated Products List (EPL).

Note: This does not mean that Windows NT will be C2 certified (no
operating system is ever C2 certified). Certification applies to a
particular installation, including hardware, software, and the
environment that the system is in. It is up to an individual site to
become C2 certified.

More Information:

The requirements for A-, B-, C-, and D-level secure products are
outlined in the Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria (TCSEC)
published by the National Computer Security Center (NCSC). This
publication is referred to as the "Orange Book," and is part of NSA's
security "rainbow series." Security level requirements are open to
interpretations that change over time. When undergoing evaluation,
each vendor negotiates with the NSA about whether or not the details
of its particular system implementation conform with the abstract
security policy concepts in the NSA's books. The vendor must provide
evidence that the requirements are being met.

Microsoft has opted not to include certain components of NT in the
evaluation process, not because they would not pass the evaluation,
but to save time by reducing the load on the NSA. Additionally, the
MS-DOS/Windows on Windows (WOW) system may be treated as a Win32
application and would therefore not need to be evaluated as part of
the Trusted Computer Base (TCB). Networking on NT may not have to go
through the "Red Book," or "Trusted Network Interpretation." It may be
enough to consider networking to be another subsystem, and therefore
only the Orange Book would apply. New or modified components and other
hardware platforms can go through a "RAMP" process to be included in
the evaluation at a later time.

C2 Overview
-----------

The security policy in C2 is known as Discretionary Access Control
(DAC). In the Windows NT implementation, the basic idea is that users
of the system:

 - Own objects
 - Have control over the protection of the objects they own
 - Are accountable for all their access-related actions

C2 classification does not define a substantive security system in the
sense of classified or unclassified data. (B-level security assumes the
existence of an independent security classification system and
enforces that system, but does not specify the substance of the
classification system.)

For example, in Windows NT, every object (file, Clipboard, window, and
so on) has an owner; any owner can give or not give other users access
to its objects. The system tracks (audits) your actions for the
administrators (that is, the system administrator can track the
objects you accessed, both successes and failures).

The key distinction between C-level and B-level security is in the
notion of access control. In a C2 (DAC) system, owners have absolute
discretion about whether or not others have access to their objects.
In a B-level, or Mandatory Access Control (MAC) system, objects have a
security level defined independently from the owner's discretion. For
example, if you receive a copy of an object marketed "secret," you
can't give permission to other users to see this object unless they
have "secret" clearance. This is defined by the system independent of
your discretion. MAC involves the concept of "data labeling," which is
the creation and maintenance by the system of security "labels" on
data objects, unalterable by users (except in certain cases under
system control and auditing). An administrator can get access to
anyone's objects, although it may require some programming to do so
(that is, the user interface won't expose this power).

To obtain a copy of the NSA's security books (the rainbow series),
call [phone] 8 A.M. to 4 P.M. Eastern time.

Additional reference words: 3.10
KBCategory:
KBSubCategory: SCRTY

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