SUNW: Sun Announces Solaris 10 in Evaluation for Highest Global Security Certification

Sun Microsystems, Inc., (NASDAQ: SUNW) today announced that the Solaris 10 Operating System (OS) with Solaris Trusted Extensions is in evaluation for the highest globally recognized level of certification for any commercial OS – the Common Criteria Certification Labeled Security Protection Profile (LSPP) at Evaluation Assurance Level 4+ (EAL 4+), including 3 Protection Profiles. Solaris Trusted Extensions – a new feature in Solaris 10 11/06 OS, available later this year – will allow Solaris 10 OS customers, who have specific regulatory or information protection requirements, to take advantage of labeling features previously only available in highly specialized operating systems or appliances.


The Solaris 10 OS is currently being evaluated for Common Criteria LSPP at EAL 4+ for the Controlled Access Protection Profile (CAPP) and Role-Based Access Control Protection Profile (RBACPP) at EAL 4+. In addition, Solaris 10 11/06 OS with Solaris Trusted Extensions is being evaluated for the LSPP Protection Profile, a requirement for financial, healthcare and government customers that need to protect the use of data with different classifications (top secret, secret, public) on the same systems.

"Sun and Solaris software have an 18-year history of independent security certification, exceeding the most comprehensive, government-mandated security requirements," said Tom Goguen, Vice President for Solaris marketing, Sun Microsystems. "The Solaris 10 OS with Solaris Trusted Extensions is the most secure foundation on the planet for the deployment of identity and compliance solutions for government and industry."

The Solaris Trusted Extensions feature, currently in beta release, allows a strong Mandatory Access Control (MAC) security policy—an essential part of any highly secure solution—to be implemented using the Solaris 10 OS. Solaris Trusted Extensions helps ensure that access to communications between objects is strictly controlled and all objects in the OS have a well-defined, easily audited relationship to each other. For example, the feature allows information labeled "Top Secret" or "Classified" to be hosted and processed on the same system as information labeled "Public" or "Unclassified." Solaris Trusted Extensions also supports labels with any file system, labeled networking for secure networks, labeled printing, a full multi-level desktop using the GNOME-based Java Desktop System and CDE, and support for both SPARC(R) processor-based and x86/x64 systems.

The Solaris 10 OS, the most advanced OS on the planet, is an open source OS available as a free download from Sun Microsystems. The Solaris 10 OS is backed 24/7 worldwide by Sun's enterprise-class services and support. For more information on Solaris software, go to http://sun.com/solaris For OpenSolaris project, go to http://opensolaris.org

The Common Criteria testing is being conducted by CGI Information Systems and Management Consultants, Inc., in Ottawa, Canada. The Solaris 10 OS is being tested on a variety of systems, including SPARC processor-based servers and Sun Fire x64 (x86, 64-bit) servers powered by the AMD Opteron processor. Testing for the upcoming Solaris 10 OS release began in June 2006 and is expected to be complete in 12 to 18 months.

The Communications Security Establishment (CSE) is the Canadian independent third-party evaluation and certification service accepting the Solaris 10 OS. Formal notice of the evaluation status of the Solaris 10 OS is posted on CSE's Web at: http://www.cse-cst.gc.ca/services/common-criteria/ongoing-evals-e.html