Transcript Slide 1
The Common Criteria
Cs5493(7493)
CC: Background
The need for independently evaluated IT
security products and systems led to the
TCSEC Rainbow series
CC: Background
• 1996 - The CC was conceived following the
TCSEC, Rainbow series.
• The Rainbow series was used as a guide and
model for the CC.
• 1997 NIAP is formed (National Information
Assurance Partnership)
• Published in 1998
CC: Background
1999 Adopted by the ISO (International
Standards Organization, ISO-15408)
2000 Evaluations performed by accredited
labs with government oversight and
validation.
2003 NSA Assumes responsibility for CCEVS
(CC Evaluation and Validation Scheme)
CC Purpose
• To provide consistent evaluation standards to
IT products and systems
• To improve the availability of evaluated
security-enhanced IT products and systems.
• To eliminate duplicating evaluations of IT
products and systems.
• To improve the efficiency and costeffectiveness of the evaluation process.
CC
The CC does not define the features of an IT
product
The CC does not require the product itself be
secure
The CC is a common framework for an
evaluation process.
CC
By placing focus on security evaluation
process, and not on the actual product design,
vendors can keep their technology
proprietary.
The CC Process
IT products are organized into categories:
http://www.commoncriteriaportal.org/products
The CC Process
The CC process is centered around an IT
product referred to as the Target Of
Evaluation: TOE.
The CC Process is determined for the TOE by
three documents:
1. The Protection Profile (PP)
2. The Security Target (ST)
3. The Certification/Validation Report
CC General Requirements
• Functional security requirements – define
desired security behavior.
• Assurance requirements – indicating claimed
security measures are effective and
implemented correctly.
The CC Process: Protection Profile
Each IT category has at least one document
describing the functional and assurance
security requirements. These documents are
known as Protection Profiles
CC: Protection Profile
Created by a user, user community,
laboratory, etc.
NIAP is currently working on a standard
protection profile for each technology
category.
CC : Protection Profile
Contains a description of threats
Security objectives
Security functional requirements
Security assurance requirements
etc
CC : Security Target
The Security Target (ST) document is usually
written by the developer/vendor of the IT
product.
CC : Security Target
The document contains information on how
the TOE fulfills the security objectives outlined
in the PP.
CC : Evaluation
• The evaluation process is used to determine if
the security target (ST) is satisfied for the
target of interest (TOE).
• The TOE developer requests the evaluation.
• Evaluation only occurs when the product is
complete
• Cost of the evaluation is negotiated between
the developer and the evaluator.
CC : Evaluations
A validation/certification report documents
the evaluation findings.
CC : Validation
Validation for the TOE comes in the form of a
Validation/Certification Report.
The Validation report assigns an EAL to the
TOE.
CC : EAL
Evaluation Assurance Levels
Levels 1 through 7
The EALs reflect the degree of confidence a
user can have in the performance of the TOE
EAL – 1 are no longer done by accredited
labs
EAL – 2 through 4 are assigned by one of the
accredited labs
EAL 4+ are assigned by the NSA
CC : EAL
EAL 1-4 do not require evaluation of the
software, only the development process
EAL 4+ require more rigorous design
evaluation.
CC Sustainability Cycle
– Revisions are required as vulnerabilities are
discovered
– Each revision may require re-evaluation
Accredited Evaluators
NIST accredits the evaluators
There are 15 countries that have accredited
evaluators.
There are 11 other countries that support
the CC standards.