Trusted Operating System (TOS) generally refers to an

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...

that provides sufficient support for

multilevel security Multilevel security or multiple levels of security (MLS) is the application of a computer system to process information with incompatible classifications (i.e., at different security levels), permit access by users with different security clearan ...

and evidence of correctness to meet a particular set of government requirements. The most common set of criteria for trusted operating system design is the

Common Criteria The Common Criteria for Information Technology Security Evaluation (referred to as Common Criteria or CC) is an international standard (ISO/IEC 15408) for computer security certification. It is currently in version 3.1 revision 5. Common Criteria ...

combined with the

Security Functional Requirements Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted Coercion, coercive change) caused by others, by restraining the freedom of others to act. Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be of persons an ...

(SFRs) for Labeled Security Protection Profile (LSPP) and

mandatory access control In computer security, mandatory access control (MAC) refers to a type of access control by which the operating system or database constrains the ability of a ''subject'' or ''initiator'' to access or generally perform some sort of operation on a ...

(MAC). The Common Criteria is the result of a multi-year effort by the governments of the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands and other countries to develop a harmonized security criteria for IT products.

Examples

Examples of certified trusted operating systems are: * Apple Mac OS X 10.6 (Rated EAL 3+) * HP-UX 11i v3 (Rated EAL 4+) * Some

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

distributions (Rated up to EAL 4+) * Microsoft Windows 7 and Microsoft Server 2008 R2 (Rated EAL 4+) * AIX 5L with PitBull Foundation (Rated EAL 4+) *

Trusted Solaris Trusted Solaris is a discontinued security-evaluated operating system based on Solaris (operating system), Solaris by Sun Microsystems, featuring a mandatory access control model. Features * Accounting * Role-Based Access Control * Auditing * Devic ...

* Trusted UNICOS 8.0 (Rated B1) *

XTS-400 The XTS-400 is a multilevel secure computer operating system. It is multiuser and multitasking that uses multilevel scheduling in processing data and information. It works in networked environments and supports Gigabit Ethernet and both IPv4 ...

(Rated EAL5+) * IBM VM (SP, BSE, HPO, XA, ESA, etc.) with

RACF Introduction RACF, ronounced Rack-Effshort for Resource Access Control Facility, is an IBM software product. It is a security system that provides access control and auditing functionality for the z/OS and z/VM operating systems. RACF was in ...

Examples of operating systems that might be certifiable are: *

FreeBSD FreeBSD is a free and open-source Unix-like operating system descended from the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), which was based on Research Unix. The first version of FreeBSD was released in 1993. In 2005, FreeBSD was the most popular ...

with the TrustedBSD extensionsFreeBSD statement about support of Common Criteria requirements : *

SELinux Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux) is a Linux kernel security module that provides a mechanism for supporting access control security policies, including mandatory access controls (MAC). SELinux is a set of kernel modifications and user-space t ...

(se
FAQ
Companies that have created trusted operating systems include: * Addamax (BSD, SVR3, SVR4, HP/UX) * Argus Systems Group (Solaris, AIX, Linux) *

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...

(System V) *

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...

(XTS Unix) *

Bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, includin ...

(AIX) *

Data General Data General Corporation was one of the first minicomputer firms of the late 1960s. Three of the four founders were former employees of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). Their first product, 1969's Data General Nova, was a 16-bit minicomputer ...

(DG/UX) *

Digital Equipment Corporation Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC ), using the trademark Digital, was a major American company in the computer industry from the 1960s to the 1990s. The company was co-founded by Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson in 1957. Olsen was president unt ...

(Ultrix) *

Forcepoint Forcepoint, an American multinational corporation software company headquartered in Austin, Texas, that develops computer security software and data protection, cloud access security broker, firewall and cross-domain solutions. Forcepoint ...

(Hardened SELinux) *

Gemini Computers Gemini may refer to: Space * Gemini (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac ** Gemini in Chinese astronomy * Project Gemini, the second U.S. crewed spaceflight program * Gemini Observatory, consisting of telescopes in the North ...

(GEMSOS) *

General Dynamics C4 Systems General Dynamics Mission Systems is a business unit of American defense and aerospace company General Dynamics. General Dynamics Mission Systems integrates secure communication and information systems and technology. General Dynamics Mission Syst ...

(Linux) *

Harris Corporation Harris Corporation was an American technology company, defense contractor, and information technology services provider that produced wireless equipment, tactical radios, electronic systems, night vision equipment and both terrestrial and spaceb ...

(SVR3, SVR4) *

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

(HP/UX) *

Honeywell Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...

(Multics) * IBM (OS/390, AIX) * SCO (SCO Unix) *

Secure Computing Corporation Secure Computing Corporation (SCC) was a public company that developed and sold computer security appliances and hosted services to protect users and data. McAfee acquired the company in 2008. The company also developed filtering systems used ...

(LOCK, Mach, BSD) *

SecureWare SecureWare Inc., founded in 1986 developed software and encryption technology for securing Unix-based operating systems. Its secure operating system was used to help secure the world's first internet bank, Security First Network Bank (S1 Technologi ...

(Apple A/UX, HP/UX, SCO) *

Sequent Computer Systems Sequent Computer Systems was a computer company that designed and manufactured multiprocessing computer systems. They were among the pioneers in high-performance symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) open systems, innovating in both hardware (e.g., cach ...

(Dynix/ptx) *

Silicon Graphics Silicon Graphics, Inc. (stylized as SiliconGraphics before 1999, later rebranded SGI, historically known as Silicon Graphics Computer Systems or SGCS) was an American high-performance computing manufacturer, producing computer hardware and soft ...

(IRIX) *

Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun for short) was an American technology company that sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services and created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS, the ...

(SunOS, Solaris) *

Trusted Information Systems Trusted Information Systems (TIS) was a computer security research and development company during the 1980s and 1990s, performing computer and communications (information) security research for organizations such as NSA, DARPA, Army Research Lab, ...

(Xenix, Mach)

References

{{reflist

External links

Common Criteria Portal - certified products

NSA FAQ on SELinux

Argus Systems
Operating system security

Examples

See also

References

External links