‘Trust’ in security terms is extremely desirable but very difficult to ensure, particularly when it comes to dealing with a commercial manufacturer of IT security solutions. Aspects such as a lengthy and successful business relationship, transparency in your business relationship, and recognised certification are not difficult to achieve, but ensuring trust and secrecy with regard to the product is harder.
Customised security systems which manufacturers have no knowledge of
Using mils electronic’s after-delivery modification (ADM) service, you can personally and uniquely customise your security in such a way that the manufacturer has no knowledge of it. This ensures you of the utmost transparency with all the advantages and convenience of a reputable off-the-shelf product.
Through this capacity for customisation ADM provides far higher levels of trust. ADM involves the introduction of a cipher algorithm, which has been developed by the customer and placed within the mils secure messaging system. We offer ADM as a service, and to further win your trust, offer all the necessary training and tools for customers to implement it themselves. ADM thus becomes an aspect of your security that is not only unique to each customer but needs no involvement from us. Once we have provided you with all the support you need to implement ADM effectively, we do not ever need to know how you choose to encode your own system.
Originally we developed ADM for our extensive work with government organisations, where security of information is absolutely crucial. During the development of a system to meet these challenges we had to ask ourselves some pretty tough questions. For example, how can a customer replace or modify a hardware algorithm without designing his or her own security device? Plus, how can a crypto manufacturer be certain that an algorithm introduced to a system after delivery (and therefore unknown to the manufacturer) still be a solid, trustworthy, solution? ADM is the ideal solution.
The ADM development and installation process
Information, training, development tools and a well-structured procedure are provided by mils electronic to support the customer in carrying out the ADM of their secure messaging solution. The most important items include:
- Detailed documentation and explanation of the built-in framework for the block cipher pay-load encryption algorithm; on delivery, the essential building blocks of this algorithm are left empty, and the customer can individually develop and verify these blocks and to load them into the delivered security devices
- A programming guide for the implementation of an algorithm simulator, which is required for verification during algorithm development and for later cipher-check purposes in the field
- Software for checking the developed building blocks and for loading these components into the configured security devices
Overall, ADM is a very hardworking and intelligent solution that has many practical uses in ensuring sensitive information and communications are only accessible to those who need to know. If you feel you would benefit from such a system please do not hesitate to contact us.