At a recent Advisory Board session, leading members of the Information Assurance community joined Nexor in discussing the applicability and requirements for high assurance guarding at IL3 as well as at higher levels. Policy and labelling were considered as well as the human and hardware factors. If you would like to contribute to the debate or learn about potential solutions please contact us.

Nexor was delighted to host the recent IACG (Information Assurance Collaboration Group) meeting at its offices in Nottingham. The main discussions centred on the draft CESG industry partnership scheme designed to ensure the quality and integrity of the IA supplier community.

Nexor has deployed a revolutionary, low energy cooling system in its equipment room that will help to cut carbon emissions and reduce costs. A 70% reduction in cooling energy is being achieved through the innovative air handling solution from 4energy, a dynamic, young organisation based in Nottingham. The solution manages the effects of high and low temperatures on equipment and includes a smart environmental monitoring and control system that ties all the individual parts of the system together in real time. For more information, see www.4energy.co.uk.

At HMS Sherwood on 24th November 2009, Petty Officer Andrew Robinson was presented with the Afghanistan Operational Service Medal with Afghanistan Clasp in recognition of his tour of duty in Afghanistan. Nexor’s CEO, Steve Kingan, was also presented with a Certificate of Support in recognition of Nexor’s commitment to support the Reserves of the Armed Forces. Both presentations were made by Prince Michael of Kent.

Already a leading defence and security SELinux software house, Nexor has added five more RedHat Certified Technicians and two more RedHat Certified Engineers to its team. Nexor is using SELinux as the foundation for its new family of data guards and has invested significantly over the past two years in staff, training and collaboration with Tresys, the foremost authority on SELinux in the US. For more information on RedHat certification visit http://www.redhat.com/certification.

Nexor has appointed Red River Computer Company as its US reseller for Nexor Sentinel Version 3, the SELinux based version of Nexor’s successful high assurance mailguard. Click here for more details.

Hardly a day goes by without a new threat or technique being identified to find and exploit vulnerabilities in software. With nearly every aspect of our lives becoming reliant on computer technology, how do we know we can trust the systems we are using are secure and cannot be easily exploited? In a new article for Computer Weekly, Andrew Kays, Head of Development at Nexor explores the key factors to consider when determining if a system is safe and secure to use. To read the full article follow this link http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2009/10/20/238218/security-zone-secure-by-design.htm.

Nexor has adopted Unified Modelling Language (UML), the standardised modelling language used to diagrammatically document use cases and component design in readiness for software development. Trialled during the design of its next generation data guard technology, where data flows between components were analysed and documented, the benefits of UML have already been seen to extend beyond the design phase and simplify the process of solution accreditation or evaluation, thereby reducing associated costs. Based on the positive outcome of the trials, Nexor has adopted the use of UML in design as standard business practice.

Colin Robbins, Nexor’s CTO, will present “Open Architecture for Advanced Data Guarding” at the RSA Conference running from 20th to 22nd October 2009 at the Hilton London Metropole. Colin will consider the concept of an open architecture for data loss prevention in IT based systems to ensure that information sharing is achieved in a controlled manner, consistent with the applicable security policy. For a sneak preview, see Colin’s podcast at https://365.rsaconference.com/blogs/podcast-series-rsa-conference-europe-2009/2009/10/05/podcast-colin-robbins-cto-nexor.

Nexor’s long held philosophy that building high assurance solutions on top of evaluated platforms ready for local accreditation is finding growing support in the market. The time, expense and inflexibility of Common Criteria evaluation is causing its appeal to flag. Such was the general mood at the NATO IA 09 symposium (22nd to 24th September 2009) at Mons, Belgium, where senior NATO officials endorsed the need for a more flexible and timely approach. Nexor’s mail and data guards have been built on this basis from the beginning and are already widely deployed in the defence and homeland security markets. Please follow the link here for details of Nexor’s presentation and workshop at NATO IA.