Submission + - NSA to Offer a Secure Platform for Outside Use
Pickens writes: "The National Security Agency is spearheading a team of intelligence agencies and information technology vendors in an effort toward broader use of secure multilevel workstations based on High Assurance Platform (HAP) standards and specifications. NSA expects to approve outside use of HAP systems this year, allowing adoption by federal agencies that handle unclassified data in addition to private companies and eventually individuals. Ed Hammersla, chief operating officer at Trusted Computer Solutions. says the virtual computing features in HAP can strengthen security and provide electricity savings for agencies and companies. "For example, companies that operate electricity grids and pipelines have become concerned that their general business-side computers, such as the mainframes used for accounting, could provide pathways for insiders to drill through to the supervisory control and administration (SCADA) systems that regulate their networks." HAP's virtualization features and NSA's work could even lead to greatly upgraded household computers. "An individual user could create a secure zone for sensitive personal financial information while allowing less-trusted systems to access other parts of a home computer," Hammersla added."
