Objective Interface Offers First Public Presentation of New Partitioning Communications Architecture for MILS at The Open Group Forum in San Francisco, January 24-28

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - January 24, 2005 - Leading a consortium of government organizations and commercial vendors focused on developing new safety and security standards for high-assurance applications, Objective Interface Systems, Inc., the worldwide leader in high-performance embedded and real-time distributed middleware solutions, today drew one step closer to bringing a new communications standard to military and aerospace applications in distributed environments. In the first public presentation of the security requirements for MILS (Multiple Independent Levels of Security/Safety) middleware, made today to The Open Group, a vendor-neutral standards body, Objective Interface introduced a Protection Profile for the Partitioning Communications System (PCS) that defines MILS middleware requirements. In practical terms, the PCS allows engineers to design more flexible and affordable highly-secure distributed systems. It also eases the certification process required to process multiple levels of classified data. Objective Interface’s partners in the development of the PCS Protection Profile include the National Security Agency (NSA), U. S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Lockheed Martin, Rockwell Collins and the University of Idaho.

Objective Interface has self-funded the majority of the research for the creation of this new class of secure communications software to facilitate the use of Objective Interface’s high-assurance communications technology. Objective Interface’s PCS technology promotes the development of safety- and security-critical software solutions for military, aerospace and global intelligence applications. The new PCS technology sets a new performance benchmark for the market, enabling safety and security certification levels that were previously unattainable in distributed systems.

“Given the special requirements of high-assurance applications, we have worked with our partners to carefully craft the foundational middleware architecture for MILS—the PCS,” said Bill Beckwith, CEO of Objective Interface Systems, Inc. “While the MILS separation kernel has reached commercial viability, a high-assurance connectivity solution has heretofore been a missing link. Based on our field-proven experience with embedded and real-time CORBA and through our work with the NSA, Lockheed Martin, AFRL, Rockwell Collins, the University of Idaho and other partners, we are proud to have designed a PCS architecture that facilitates the development and certification of truly safe and secure multi-level distributed systems. We are developing and certifying our PCS technologies to an EAL 7 standard, which is the highest possible level of security certification under the Common Criteria. The Common Criteria is the definitive forum for world-wide computer security requirements.”

Objective Interface has also collaborated with individuals in the U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Secretary of Defense to better understand needs associated with the MILS PCS: “The MILS architecture provides a critical solution for more cost-effective development and evolution of safe, highly secure systems,” said Joe Jarzombek, Deputy Director for Software Assurance in the Information Assurance Directorate of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Networks and Information Integration). “The PCS technology is well positioned to be a key MILS-enabler by providing the glue to enable disparate applications, based on a variety of operating systems and hardware platforms, to communicate securely under severe threat.”

MILS for Safety and Security
The current fail-first-patch-later approach to addressing security threats, where technicians reactively repair software security flaws in a system, is not appropriate for the global communications infrastructure supporting mission-critical aerospace, defense, data communications, telecommunications, medical, utilities, transportation, financial and similar systems. Given that systems and application software can only be as safe and secure as their foundational technologies, MILS was designed from the ground up to provide a high level of assurance, countering a wide range of security threats. The MILS architecture was developed to resolve the difficulty in developing, certifying and maintaining high-assurance systems. It functions by layering security policy enforcement into manageable components. This divide-and-conquer approach makes development, certification and maintenance significantly more achievable than ever before. Objective Interface has worked closely with The Open Group on the development of the MILS standard: “Objective Interface has advanced the marketplace for high-assurance security through their significant contributions to MILS and through their leadership in developing the secure communications architecture for MILS,” said Joe Bergmann, Director of The Open Group’s Real-time and Embedded Systems Forum. “They have shown a strong commitment to standards via their consistent participation in and contributions to The Open Group over many years. We at The Open Group are proud to provide the forum for the collaboration of industry and government to advance the security of our infrastructure systems.”

For More Information
For more information on MILS and the MILS PCS, please visit: http://mils.ois.com.

About The Open Group
The Open Group is a vendor-neutral and technology-neutral consortium, whose vision of Boundaryless Information Flow™ will enable access to integrated information within and between enterprises based on open standards and global interoperability. The Open Group works with customers, suppliers, consortia and other standard bodies. Its role is to capture, understand and address current and emerging requirements, establish policies and share best practices; to facilitate interoperability, develop consensus, and evolve and integrate specifications and open source technologies; to offer a comprehensive set of services to enhance the operational efficiency of consortia; and to operate the industry’s premier certification service. Further information on The Open Group can be found at http://www.opengroup.org.

About Objective Interface
Objective Interface is a worldwide leader of embedded and real-time middleware solutions. The company provides Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), data distribution system (DDS) and secure communications middleware development tools to meet the high-performance requirements of telecommunications, data communications, industrial automation, consumer electronics, military and aerospace markets. Objective Interface products, sold worldwide, are used in a variety of real-time and embedded applications, including communication systems, network management, vehicle control systems, telecommunication systems and nuclear fusion ignition facilities. For more information, visit www.ois.com, call 1-800-800-OIS7, or e-mail inquiries to: info@ois.com.

All product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

PRESS CONTACTS (not for publication):

OBJECTIVE INTERFACE
Alison Alberich
Phone: 703/295-6513
Email: alison.alberich@ois.com

VETRANO COMMUNICATIONS
Maria Vetrano
617/876-2770
Email: m.vetrano@vetrano.com