Secure Open Source Architecture

This proposal will analyze the potential to create a minimal, custom Linux architecture that is under 500MB and boots in under 15 seconds on PEMA hardware. This is a 97.5% reduction in OS size vs Windows 10 at 20GB; software patches will achieve similar reductions. The Phase II product will be a cyber secure, minimal, BIOS/UEFI compatible ISO image that loads a live Operating System (OS) in RAM. This proposal is to design and determine the technical feasibility of developing a secure software architecture for Panasonic CF-31 MK6 and 33 Toughbooks built upon an open-source OS. The novel approach of this proposal is to design and build a minimal OS, compiled from source code, that provides just enough capability to perform the mission while eliminating all unnecessary functionality. The resulting system will have increased performance, reduced cyber attack-surface, reduced OS footprint, reduced Information Assurance Vulnerability Assessment (IAVA) patch cadence, and reduced patch sizes. This proposal will not repackage an existing Linux distribution, but instead will create a new distribution, tailored specifically for Navy embarkable Information Technology solutions. This custom solution will be built from source code using custom scripts and software. Source code will be downloaded from the authoritative repositories, verified with file hashes, and built in an offline live OS environment to ensure repeatable configuration management of deployed software. Building from source code ensures the Government has complete visibility, security, and control of the OS. All source code will be provided to the Government for security testing. The core image will support multiple type/model/series (T/M/S) aircraft configurations by packaging unique software applications into a squashed file system (SFS) package. Each SFS package will be loaded into RAM at boot or on-demand during runtime. This will allow easy configuration management of PEMA images by selecting which SFS packages to load and unload depending on the T/M/S image. SFS files operate on a different read/write layer than core OS files. This allows easy updating and patching of specific applications by simply deleting and replacing the single SFS file. This, in conjunction with emulation/containerization, will reduce patch cadence and standardize a single PEMA image across all T/M/S aircraft.