Design of a Trusted Computing Base Extension for Commercial Off-The-Shelf workstations (TCBE)

Abstract

United States policy requires that access to and dissemination of classified information be controlled. Separate networks and workstations for each classification do not meet user requirements. Users also need commercially available office productivity tools. Traditional multilevel systems are costly and are unable support an evolving suite of Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) applications. This thesis presents a design for a Trusted Computing Base Extension (TCBE) that allows COTS workstations to function securely as part of a multilevel network that uses high assurance multilevel servers as the backbone. The TCBE will allow COTS workstations to use commercially available software applications, while providing a Trusted Path to a high assurance multilevel server. The research resulted in a design of a TCBE system that can be employed with COTS workstations, allowing them to function as untrusted clients in the context of a secure multilevel network.