A Mail File Administration Tool for a Multilevel High Assurance LAN

Abstract

Department of Defense official communications often require special protections to prevent accidental disclosure to unauthorized personnel. A Multilevel High Assurance LAN provides a framework for secure electronic communications, and obviates the need for multiple single level networks. A high assurance trusted computing base (TCB), allows untrusted commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software, such as an Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) server, to run untrusted while access to the file system is mediated by the TCB. Control of creation and deletion of hierarchical structured objects, such as those in the file system, is based on the ability to write to the directory containing the object. For a mail server, this directory structure corresponds to a mailbox hierarchy. The mailbox hierarchy must be designed to allow users to read, create, and send mail at multiple levels. The purpose of this research is to develop a trusted process that automatically creates the mailbox hierarchy for any system user. A Mail File Administration Tool for a Multilevel High Assurance LAN allows administrators to easily set up IMAP-compatible mailboxes for each user. The tool assists in the management of the file structure and enables account administration for multiple LAN users and group accounts at multiple security levels.