With the military’s love of acronyms and the many and varied requirement definitions, understanding how to break into Department of Defense (DoD) sales can be a daunting proposition. How do these DoD and international requirements …
In December of 2015, we heard about the NSA’s proposed reorganization (its biggest in 20 years) and a few of the potential impacts it could have on the agency and industry as a whole. One critical …
As previously mentioned, CMVP announced that all FIPS 140-2 validations that use Random Number Generators (RNG), as well as certifications that use both the NIST 800-90A DRBG and RNG will be required to re-validate, otherwise, they will …
Corsec is pleased to congratulate our partner, VMware, on completing the Common Criteria validation for it’s product; vSphere v5.5. This product was tested and validated through the most stringent of security standards receiving a validation under an EAL2+, which …
Much has been in the news over the past couple of months about the security vulnerability known as Heartbleed. It is of vital interest to businesses and consumers, but especially so for businesses with products intended to provide security for their users. There are some specific and unique impacts to companies who are planning or are in the midst…
What is the DoD’s Information Network Approved Products List (DoDIN APL) and why is it important to you? You’ve probably heard that it has to do with the Department of Defense — absolutely true and …
Do you need to open the door to sell your IT security product to the U.S. government? That seems like it should be a process that is simple to work through, but think again. Any IT security product that will be used by the U.S. government for national security systems, either to handle classified and even some non-classified…
In the second post of our two-part series, we continue our discussion with panelists from Computer Sciences Corporation: Lachlan Turner, Jason Cunningham, and Maureen Barry. Continuing where we left off with last week’s post, we’ll dive deeper into entropy and answer some of the many questions now arising…
In the world of cryptography, data is only safe as long as the keys used to protect that data are kept secure. While, on one hand, this means that keys must be protected against unauthorized access, it also means that keys must be created in a way that makes them difficult for an attacker to guess. To produce cryptographically strong…
There are plenty of myths out there about FIPS and what it really takes to achieve validation. During our most recent webinar, “Top 10 Myths about FIPS,” we dispelled some of those myths and gave insight into what it really means to be FIPS validated and how your company can navigate the complicated validation process because of the level of detail, time, and cost involved, there…
Trying to decide whether to perform a FIPS 140-2 validation on your product? It can actually be a pretty black and white decision. If you want to sell any product containing cryptography to any U.S. government agency or department, then the answer is clear cut: you need a FIPS validation. FIPS 140-2 validation is required for products that contain…
I recently had a conversation with a product vendor who was new to the Common Criteria community and it was refreshing to talk about and look at the Common Criteria “machine” from an outside perspective. One of the interesting parts of that machine is the Common Criteria User Forum (CCUF). It provides a voice and communications…
Who is Defining the Criteria That Your Products Will Need to be Evaluated Against? I have been involved in the Common Criteria (CC) community since the first International Common Criteria Conference (ICCC) in 2000. While I spend a lot of my time down in the weeds of Common Criteria issues, it’s refreshing to look at the Common…
I have recently read several online articles questioning what it means for a cryptographic module to be FIPS 140-2 validated. While the FIPS 140-2 validation process is very complicated and replete with regulations, some of the information presented in the articles themselves and the comments made by…
Getting your product listed on the DoD UC APL can seem like a Herculean task. We’ve talked before about the ins and outs of the entire listing process, but anyone who has considered any type of IT security validation knows that making the process as efficient as possible is as key as paying attention to the details. Last week, Corsec Co-Founder…
So many decisions, so little time. You’ve heard—and likely experienced—this mantra. And if you read this blog regularly, you’ve probably picked up on the fact that security validations involve making a whole host of decisions. When pursuing Common Criteria certification, one often perplexing, yet critical decision I hear people lament…
We have recently seen an increase in the number of clients who are asking about CSfC and how to get on the CSfC Components List maintained by the National Security Agency (NSA) Information Assurance Directorate (IAD). CSfC is the acronym for the IAD’s Commercial Solutions for Classified program. It’s worth noting…
The benefits of getting FIPS 140-2 validation for your product shouldn’t be underestimated. Your FIPS 140-2 validation demonstrates your integrity and commitment to providing your customers with compliant security products and systems. But the validation process can be time consuming, complex and is an investment not to be taken lightly. So, while planning…
In our recent blog post, we talked about the cost and timing you can expect if you pursue FIPS 140-2 revalidation for your product or system. We also touched on five change scenarios that necessitate revalidation. These scenarios were created by the Cryptographic Module Validation Program (CMVP), the same body that published the FIPS standard, which covers…
In the IT security industry, research and development teams continually race to introduce new products, while at the same time, project teams improve upon existing offerings—all scrambling to ensure that the latest versions meet security functional and assurance requirements. The goal is to bring the strongest and most secure…