NEXOR EXTENDS SECURE APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT SERVICE WITH SELINUX

February 2009

Nexor, the company that connects, transforms and protects sensitive information for defence, security and resilience programmes, has extended its secure application development service with the addition of Security Enhanced (SE) Linux capability, SELinux.

Over two decades, Nexor has built a centre of excellence in developing technology to enforce security policies running on Solaris, Windows and STOP platforms. This capability is available to end customer and systems integrators for full lifecycle developments, application ports and product modifications.

Each project is supported by standards-based methodologies, including processes structured according to CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration) and both Agile and traditional development techniques. Support for evaluation and accreditation are provided through robust documentation and code verification.

In response to market demand, Nexor recognised the need to expand this capability to include SELinux, the secure operating system originally developed by the US National Security Agency (NSA). By using SELinux, solution architects are able to leverage the underlying EAL4 operating system’s features to complement and enhance the end-to-end security model.

Working with Tresys Technology’s SELinux security toolset, enhanced productivity and verification have been built into the new capability. Nexor also invested in an SELinux training programme, learning from the expertise of both Tresys, host and manager of the SELinux upstream repository, and Redhat, resulting in Redhat Certified SELinux engineer status.

“With increased awareness of the negative effects of poorly implemented security, application developers are looking at how to improve robustness in the most cost effective way. By utilising the enhanced security capabilities SELinux has to offer, many common security concerns can be overcome by operating system configuration rather than code rewrite thereby reducing development cost”, comments Steve Kingan, CEO.