French Ministry of Defense Awards 7 Million Euro Contract for Linux-Based Multi-Level Security Operating System Solution

The French Ministry of Defense has awarded a 7 million euro contract to an industrial consortium consisting of Bertin Technologies, Surlog, Jaluna, Mandrakesoft, and Oppida. The consortium will develop a Linux-based multi-level security operating system solution that meets the Evaluation Assurance Level 5 (CC-EAL5) of the Common Criteria standard. CC-EAL5 guarantees an outstanding level of security for an operating system and satisfies major security requirements in both commercial and defense applications. The consortium partners will contribute their expertise to the project, with Bertin Technologies responsible for CC-EAL5 evaluation, Jaluna developing the system, Mandrakesoft contributing its Linux operating system and managing the Open Source community, and Surlog instrumenting and monitoring software development processes. Oppida will perform evaluations against the ISO 15408 Common Criteria standard. The project aims to address the industrial market at large, as well as telecommunication and enterprise systems, and will be released under an open-source license following completion.