NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

has defined the concept of an Information Exchange Gateway (IEG) to facilitate secure communication between different security and management domains. The IEG is designed to provide a standard and secure method of communication between NATO, NATO nations, non-NATO nations, coalition forces,

Non Government Organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

s (NGOs), and other International Organisations (IOs). An Information Exchange Gateway provides Information Exchange Services (IES) to facilitate the exchange of information between networks, including data and protocol translation where necessary, and Information Protection Services (IPS) that ensure only intended information is exchanged. In addition, Node Protection Services (NPS) ensure information is exchanged in a safe and secure way and that only intended information which has been validated by the IPS can be exchanged. NATO has defined five main IEG scenarios each with scenario variants for transferring

classified information Classified information is material that a government body deems to be sensitive information that must be protected. Access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of people with the necessary security clearance and need to kn ...

. The scenarios take account of the security classifications of the domains that they connect, as well as the security policy, the owners and the administrators of those domains. In some scenarios, an IEG must include a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

to provide the IPS and NPS functions. When used with a guard, the IEG's

DMZ A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between nations, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or bounda ...

is split into two.

Implementation

Nexor Nexor Limited is a privately held company based in Nottingham, providing product and services to safeguard government, defence and critical national infrastructure computer systems. It was originally known as X-Tel Services Limited. History Ne ...

implemented an IEG demonstrator for the

European Defence Agency The European Defence Agency (EDA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) that promotes and facilitates integration between member states within the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The EDA is headed by the High Representative ...

References

{{Reflist Computer security Information technology organizations based in Europe