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Evaluation By atsec information security Confirms SGI Altix and Altix XE Systems Meet Stringent Security Demands of Government and Defense Customers: atsec information security and SGI today announced that Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.1 running on two SGI Altix family systems has successfully completed the Common Criteria evaluation at evaluation assurance level (EAL) 4+. The achievement confirms that SGI Altix and Altix XE systems running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.1 meet government and military security standards, making the systems available to customers with more stringent security requirements. EAL 4+ is the highest assurance level ever achieved by Linux OS-based systems from SGI. Passing the evaluation, which was performed by atsec, means that SGI Altix systems received Common Criteria Security Certification EAL 4+ from the National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP), a U.S. Government initiative developed to meet the security testing needs of both IT consumers and producers. The long-term goal of NIAP, which is operated by the National Security Agency (NSA), is to help increase the level of trust consumers have in their information systems and networks through the use of cost-effective security testing, evaluation, and validation programs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.1 provides an enterprise-focused Linux environment. Areas of specific development include improvements in security capabilities, increased server performance and scalability, and enhanced desktop capabilities. atsec, the world’s most successful Common Criteria evaluator of Linux OS products, conducted the comprehensive evaluation. To date, atsec has performed more than 10 Linux evaluations on six different Linux platforms at assurance levels EAL2, EAL3, and EAL4+ under both the German BSI and U.S. NIAP CCEVS Common Criteria schemes. Details of the evaluation are available at www.niap-ccevs.org/cc-scheme/st/st_vid10286-vr.pdf, For information on SGI Altix and Altix XE systems, visit its Web site.