The IBM Commercial Evaluation Facility, located in Farnborough, UK, part of IBM Global Services, recently completed the first secure product evaluation using the Common Criteria (CC). It is the only facility within IBM carrying out this kind of work.

The CC is the new world wide draft ISO standard, that with minor editorial changes is expected to become a full International Standard in the Spring of 1999. It is the result of six years of international effort to find common ground between the US, Canadian and European schemes, so that mutual recognition of results can be achieved with a single criteria and a single evaluation process. In October of this year, the US, UK, Germany, France, Canada and the Netherlands will sign a mutual recognition agreement based on the use of the CC. Japan and Australia are expected to quickly join the group.

The CC replaces the European ITSEC, the US TCSEC (Orange Book) and the Canadian CTCPEC.

For more information about evaluations using the Common Criteria using IBM's Commercial Evaluation facility, contact Bob Finlay at (44)-1252-805334 or send email to: BFINLAY@dsl.uk.ibm.com.