Multicore Architectures for Multiple Independent Levels of Security Applications
Abstract
The Multiple Independent Levels of Security (MILS) initiative is focused on providing a solution to the problem of securing information environments made up of multiple classification domains. We propose that multi-core architectures have the ability to bolster the MILS effort. However, current MILS operating systems are not designed for multi-core platforms. They do not have the hardware support to ensure that the separation kernel policies will be adhered to in a commercial off the shelf (COTS) multi-core environment. We propose to investigate the applicability of state of the art multi-core architectures to multi-level security through two means: 1. Develop low-level software code, e.g. a hypervisor, which can better enforce both time and space separation in commercial multi-core processors by putting individual cores in isolated states when processing sensitive information, such as policy enforcement decisions. 2. Design a new multi-core processor from the ground-up with MILS in mind. This processor will be designed with hardware features to help the kernel enforce the given policies.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA566088
Entities
People
- Brandom Froberg
- Jonathan Heiner
- William Stanton
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory