MILS Java

Recent collaboration between Aonix and Wind River has produced an integration of Aonix's PERC Ultra virtual machine technology with the VxWorks MILS platform, representing the first marriage of Java productivity with MILS security.

Today's world has dramatically changed the way we think about secure systems and has escalated the rush to implement applications within a multi-level secure environment. At the core of these systems is a new realization of secure and safe RTOSs that meet the stringent requirements and policies being set by the U.S. Government for acquisition of IA products in DoD, Homeland Security and other departments. These systems will likely find adoption in the commercial sector where security is also a critical need, such as the financial sector.

Multiple Independent Levels of Security (MILS) identifies the implementation framework to allow time and space separation or partitioning of execution to allow applications with different levels of security to co-exist safely within the same system.

A number of RTOS vendors are addressing this market with MILS implementations. For instance, recent work at Wind River has yielded the VxWorks MILS family of products to meet security demands while maintaining consistent, deterministic system performance. The RTOS enables developers, whether the need is for a few partitions or dozens of partitions, to create and implement a secure system.

But even with the advent of MILS, one thing that hasn't changed is the need for efficient, dependable, and predictable software development—the kinds of benefits commonly associated with the Java development paradigm.

Aonix, a decades-long industry leader in real-time and safety critical tools, and pioneer in Java platform technologies, has brought together these two strengths to meet the needs of today's mission critical developers. As a participant in the Java Community Process and a key contributor to the development of standardized RTSJ profiles for hard real-time and safety critical applications, Aonix is uniquely positioned to make this technology a reality.

While MILS platforms are currently commercially available, there is more work underway to take them to the next level. In a recent article by Rob Hoffman, vice president and general manager, aerospace and defense at Wind River, published in COTS Journal, he stated, "What does it take to build a real-time system suitable for high-EAL Common Criteria evaluation? Simply put, it can take several years. But even after investing years of hard engineering time and effort, high-EAL certification does not guarantee adequate functionality or performance. Today, there are no high-performance, multilevel secure systems based on the MILS architecture and a commercial operating system."

Wind River and other MILS implementers are working within the international standards body (ISO/IEC 15408) to create solutions that meet the stringent requirements and test profiles and to begin the process of proving them through accredited test labs. While this work continues, early adopters are beginning system development using current MILS offerings available and Aonix is pleased to be there to support those efforts with the most appropriate language for their implementation and deployment.

To read more about MILS, please see the following articles:

"Information Assurance Takes Center Stage in RTOS Realm" - Rob Hoffman, vice president and general manager, aerospace and defense at Wind River

"MILS:Architecture for High-Assurance Embedded Computing" - W. Mark Vanfleet, National Security Agency, Jahn A. Luke, Air Force Research Laboratory, R. William Beckwith, Objective Interface Systems, Carol Taylor, Ph.D., University of Idaho, Ben Calloni, Ph.D., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, Gordon Uchenick, Objective Interface Systems

"MILS: High-Assurance Security at Affordable Costs" - Joe Jacob, Objective Interface Systems

"MILS: Protecting our most vital systems" - Rance J. DeLong, LynuxWorks, Inc.