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Gathering Raw Unconditioned Entropy in a Live Linux System

Greg McLearn January 12, 2018Entropy, Tools

As part of our continued product development efforts supporting assurance modernization, the Lightship team sometimes develop useful experimental tools or proofs of concepts. A while ago we developed a proof of concept to extract raw unconditioned entropy from a live running Linux system using the SystemTap API to produce loadable kernel modules. This was done as an exercise to explore Linux entropy characteristics. The code has been sitting around relatively unused, so we’ve decided to open it up under the GPL. It has been cleaned up a bit with additional informative comments, but this is proof-of-concept code with no warrant of fitness. You can find it on our GitHub account.
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Quantitative Analysis of Entropy

Greg McLearn December 11, 2017Entropy

[Jan 12, 2018 update: With the final release of NIST SP 800-90B, we’ve updated this post to reflect the new published status of this NIST SP as well as to correct any differences between rev2 and the final publication.]

It had been almost two years since NIST SP800-90B, draft 2 was released. When the final special publication was released on January 10, 2018, we hadn’t expect it to change as dramatically as between draft 1 to draft 2. After a cursory review, it would appear there are only minor changes to the quantitative elements. With the new published status, we will expect many Common Criteria schemes — if they don’t already — to soon mandate quantitative analysis of the raw entropy source.

While SP 800-90B was in draft form, North American schemes (NIAP and CSE) have permitted labs to evaluate a quantitative analysis (if available) or a qualitative analysis of a vendor’s entropy source. Qualitative analysis is usually relied upon when raw entropy is not easily obtained (such as from hardware sources or from closed-source systems), but is often onerous to author and often inefficient to get through evaluation. By contrast, quantitative analysis can bypass significant discussions on the merits of otherwise opaque hardware and software constructs and quantify the raw entropy as a single number. In this technical post, we will discuss one structured approach to quantitative analysis of a raw entropy source.

Code for NIST Entropy Health Testing

Greg McLearn December 4, 2017Entropy, Tools

[Jan 12, 2018 update: With the final release of NIST SP 800-90B, we’ve updated the sample health test code to match the minor changes between rev2 and the final version. The narrative of this post with respect to requirements for Common Criteria has been updated below as well to reflect the new published status of this NIST SP.]

In Common Criteria, there has been increasing emphasis on the evaluation of the entropy used by manufacturers in the development and deployment of their systems. The following post discusses considerations and approaches for entropy health testing.

Health testing is, of course, necessary to ensure the proper functioning of the noise being provided to the critical components of the cryptographic systems. Therefore, if a vendor is investing resources in ensuring a strongly seeded DRBG, there should be some effort expended on doing some form of health testing.

Agile Assurance: Modernizing IT Product Certification

Lachlan Turner November 20, 2017Certifications

In an agile development model, software is developed in incremental, rapid cycles with the goal of continuous improvement, fast flaw remediation and improved customer experience. Agile models advocate adaptive planning, evolutionary development, early delivery, fast iterations, and rapid response to change.

Can modern product assurance programs be designed to keep pace with agile development? At Lightship Security, we think so. In fact, we’ve made it our mission: Certification at the speed of development. We believe that a shift to “agile assurance” is a necessary step towards restoring trust and credibility to the cyber supply chain.

In this post, we are concerned with options to improve assurance outcomes provided by internationally adopted product certification programs. As a company, our focus is on developing solutions that support a modernized approach to product certification. This includes moving our industry towards agile assurance using contextual automation and supporting methodologies – we want to disrupt product certification as we know it.

NDcPP – The devil is in the details

Lachlan Turner October 18, 2017Common Criteria

In this post, we identify some common problem areas for vendors complying with the Network Device Collaborative Protection Profile (NDcPP). We’ll discuss how Lightship has adjusted to the new reality that every product going against the very prescriptive NDcPP will have gaps because of the strict level of conformance required – even if the same product was tested against a previous version of NDPP / NDcPP.

Lightship Security Common Criteria Test Lab

Lachlan Turner September 5, 2017Common Criteria, Lightship News

The Communications Security Establishment (CSE) of Canada recently accepted Lightship Security as a Candidate Common Criteria Lab – an important milestones in the approval process to become an accredited IT security test lab. Accreditation is performed by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) in partnership with CSE in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025 and allows participation in the twenty-eight nation Common Criteria Recognition Arrangement (CCRA).

“We are looking to disrupt the certifications landscape with our conformance automation software. Adding the Common Criteria lab allows us to drink our own champagne and perform quality certifications faster than ever before. We’re using Greenlight internally to support the accreditation process.” said Jason Lawlor, President of Lightship Security.

Greenlight is the Lightship Security designed and built software platform that automates testing against the latest Common Criteria Protection Profiles. All labs in Canada, regardless of experience are required to demonstrate ongoing technical competence to SCC and CSE reviewers. Lightship will be the first lab to integrate comprehensive automation through the use of Greenlight for real world evaluations.

Ark Infosec joins forces with Lightship Security

Lachlan Turner May 25, 2017Lightship News

We are pleased to announce that Ark Infosec is joining forces with Lightship Security under the Lightship banner. Ark Infosec founder Lachlan Turner will be responsible for leading and growing the security consulting and professional services practice for Lightship Security. This strategic move gives Lightship a Vancouver presence and proximity to a growing list of clients on the west coast. Lightship Security is headquartered in Ottawa and specializes in conformance automation solutions, IT security certification consulting and advisory services including Common Criteria and FIPS 140-2.