Military operational systems in field - multiple levels of security

This report examines alternative solutions for handling information of different classifications on the same physical platform. The focus is on technology that is available today or that is expected to be available in the next couple of years. In order to support wide security spans, the solutions have to meet high assurance requirements and certifications. This is particularly the case if an Internet connection is to be included. Both software and hardware solutions are considered. Trusted multi level secure systems belong to the first category as well as thin clients that can connect to different systems in a trusted manner. A hardware based alternative is to have a number of independent computers in the same case, eventually sharing a common console via a hardware switch. Another alternative is to have separate boot media, and reboot the system between the sessions. The last alternative in discussion is based on the MILS architecture (Multiple Independent Levels of Security). MILS is considered to support very flexible and future-oriented solutions, but have several limitations in the short term. It is discussed in the report how the main limitations can be circumvented in order to realize a solution. Related to an example coalition scenario the report outline some MILS based units for the tactical levels, from the coalition head quarter down to the individual soldier.