Naval Security Standards and Applications Analysis

Secure Solutions, Inc. was tasked by the Department of the Navys Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command SPAWAR to perform a Small Business Innovation Research SBIR Phase II network security research effort. The purpose of Task 2, Naval Security Standards and Applications Analysis, was to study areas of standardization to determine their status. It is standards that can allow the computer and communications industry to achieve the goal of interoperability. The task also determines which security services are available in the standards and discusses factors to consider when selecting security options. Technology areas of standardization that are addressed include operating systems, database management systems, graphical user interfaces, backplanes, local area networks, and the project support environment. The study was accomplished by reviewing recent security related studies and Naval computer and telecommunications architectures, developing a generic computer network model, and reviewing standards to assess their progress. The study found that networking is evolving faster than any other area of automation and that security standards are, for the most part, incomplete, not widely implemented, and not yet stable, though they are being developed with vigor.