SIP Trunking

Security Featured Article

May 13, 2009

Avocent's Desktop Switches Earn Government Security Rating

By Vivek Naik

Avocent Corporation reportedly has announced that its latest product line of “SwitchView SC Desktop Switches” has been awarded a U.S. government and international security validation known as “Evaluation Assurance Level 4+,” by the National Information http://www.niap-ccevs.org/’ Common Criteria Evaluation and Validation Scheme.

 
In layman’s terms this means that the switches have been successfully tested at a security EAL of 4 that was predetermined by the NIAP, which is a joint venture directed by the U.S. government between the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Security Agency, and the devices meet the assurance conditions as required by the CC EVS. Vendors whose products pass the validation are permitted to assign a + sign adjacent to the EAL level, which in this case is four.
 
The EAL4 designation informs prospective customers, vendors and service providers that the switches have been systematically designed, tested and re-checked, provide basic multiple levels of security, and can be fitted in at a later date without affecting an existing system setup.
 
CC EVS is exclusively meant for IT product conformance and it provides cost-sensitive assessment as per international standards, assists companies to get global acceptance for their products, fosters commercial security and CC test labs, and helps improve product availability.
 
In short, Avocent’s (News - Alert) SwitchView SC Desktop Switches have EAL 4+ NIAP CC EVS rating. The devices will be displayed at the 2009 Department of Defense Intelligence Information System World Conference in Orlando.
 
“Our customers who work in secure settings required by the DoD, military and intelligence understand that NIAP certification provides a level of confidence in the security of desktop switches,” said Ben Grimes (News - Alert), chief technical officer at Avocent. “Avocent works to ensure the products we issue into the government market exceed NIAP requirements and allow government agencies and contractors to work more productively knowing security levels have been strengthened.”
 
The different switches in the series are SC420, SC440, and SC540 and these deliver high video resolution and help security analysts to access any data at different security levels in many computers at the same time by using a single keyboard, a solitary mouse and two monitors, if required, otherwise one monitor is sufficient.
 
All the switches include dual link DVI video support at 2560 x 1600 resolution and, as TMCnet earlier reported, have a critical USB lock down characteristic to prevent opportunistic data theft via USB ports. Only keyboards, mice and Common Access Cards readers are allowed access to the computer or network equipment. The switches also have covert internal sensors that detect, record and alert intrusions to a central security server.
Other features are internal firmware keyboard buffer instant deletion, channel isolation, and compliance with the Trade Agreements Act.
 
The all important CACs, TMCnet reported, have similar dimensions to a credit card, have an embedded integrated circuit and are issued by the United States DoD for general identification gaining access to DoD authorized facilities such as computers, networks and gaining entry in secured zones. They also encrypt, and sign via scripted code, national security linked emails. All government and defence related personnel must carry a CAC, and Avocent’s devices support CAC’s.
Don’t forget to check out TMCnet’s White Paper Library, which provides a selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP Communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies and other documents which are free to registered users.

Vivek Naik is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Vivek's articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Michael Dinan


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