The certification, called the Evaluation Assurance Level 4 (EAL4+) Common Criteria security certification for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, applies to HP servers, workstations and notebooks. It is part of the Common Criteria Evaluation and Validation Scheme (CCEVS), an internationally standard used by governments and businesses worldwide to determine the level of security and assurance of IT products.

HP has been awarded EAL4+, the highest level of assurance for an unmodified, commercial operating system, for Labeled Security Protection Profile (LSPP), Controlled Access Protection Profile, and Role-Based Access Control Protection Profile for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 on HP Integrity, ProLiant and BladeSystem platforms as well as select workstations and desktops.

HP worked with Red Hat and the Linux community to develop the features required for the EAL4+ certification. This included contributions to help customers integrate a Linux system into a mixed network with other trusted operating systems. As part of HP’s Secure Advantage product portfolio, this certified product offering helps companies protect data and resources across their entire IT infrastructure to achieve better business outcomes.

The LSPP profile is of particular significance as it enables HP and its partners to build solutions with multiple levels of security. This capability allows government agencies and commercial businesses to collaborate securely by sharing applications with different security clearances on a single system and still have assurance that the system will enable only authorized access at the appropriate level.