A SEMI-AUTOMATED DOWNGRADER FOR MLS NETWORK GUARDS

TO BE SUCCESSFUL THE C31 COMMUNITY HAS A NEED FOR SECURE, EFFICIENT COMPUTER SYSTEMS THAT SUPPORT THEIR MISSION. AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF CURRENT SYSTEMS IS THE NERWORK GUARD. SEVERAL GUARDS CURRENTLY DEPLOYED ALLOW TRANSFERS OF INFORMATION FROM LOW SECURITY LEVELS TO HIGH SECURITY LEVELS, BUT NO GENERAL PURPOSE GUARDS ARE AVAILABLE THAT ALLOW TRANSFERS FROM HIGH TO LOW. SCTC PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A SEMI-AUTOMATED DOWNGRADE TOOL WITH A TURNTABLE HEMAN REVIEW FACILITY FOR THE GENERAL PURPOSE LOCKGUARD, AND FOR OTHER GUARD PRODUCTS. THE SEMI-AUTOMATED DOWNGRADE TOOL WOULD PROVIDE A HIGHLY TRUSTED AND ASSURED PROCESS FOR RELEASING INFORMATION FROM SYSTEM HIGH COMPUTERS TO SYSTEM LOW COMPUTERS. PHASE I OF THIS EFFORT INCLUDE A STUDY OF REQUIREMENTS, ARCHITECTURES AND SECURITY POLICY FOR THE AUTOMATED DOWNGRADER. PHASE II OF THIS EFFORT WILL BE THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PROTOTYPE DOWNGRADER IMPLEMENTED ON THE LOCKGUARD.