Messages in this thread | | | Date | Tue, 22 Feb 2000 08:13:22 -0600 (CST) | From | Jesse Pollard <> | Subject | Re: Userland encrypted filesystem that root cannot access. |
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Mike A. Harris" <mharris@meteng.on.ca>: >Hehe. Well, yes... That is what I assumed - that it is >currently NOT possible. It is something that SHOULD be possible >sometime in the future though. There are systems out there, in >which for military reasons, or perhaps other top secret reasons >that files need to remain top secret and not visible to any >system admin person. I'm thinking here of A or B class >security.. which is likely a long way off.. Oh well, it was >worth asking anyways..
Even on the A and B systems it is not possible. The security administrator on these systems can read anything there. If such a system has top secret data then the entire staff (system admin and security admin are the minimal list) must have top secret clearance. Operations staff usually also must have top secret clearance just to handle interaction between the users and batch systems, any tapes that may be used, system backups.
Just because there may be a crypto file system, don't think that the staff can't get at it. All the A/B trusted systems provide is the isolation of roles. It takes more than just security administration to gain access. It also needs system administrators. This is to prevent/reduce collusion from being as effective as it is on just C2 capable super-user "root" based systems.
Access may be more difficult, but it is still possible.
------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jesse I Pollard, II Email: pollard@navo.hpc.mil
Any opinions expressed are solely my own.
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