RTI’s Real-Time Messaging Middleware Integrated with Security-Enhanced Linux

Combination provides end-to-end information assurance in high-performance distributed computing environments

SUNNYVALE, CA—March 9, 2009—Real-Time Innovations (RTI), The Real-Time Middleware Experts, today announced that RTI Data Distribution Service, its real-time messaging middleware, has been integrated with Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux). This combination provides real-time and high-performance distributed applications with the ability to securely distribute data by combining RTI’s high-performance network communications with the extremely flexible Mandatory Access Control (MAC) facilities of SELinux.

RTI Data Distribution Service allows distributed applications to securely exchange messages and data by authenticating peers and encrypting information that is sent over the network. The MAC capabilities of SELinux add several additional levels of protection against mis-configuration, software errors and application vulnerabilities:

• System-wide security policies control which applications are allowed to communicate with each other. Even applications with the appropriate credentials and keys can communicate only if explicitly provisioned to do so.
• Files containing keys, configuration information and logs are protected from unauthorized access.

The integration was developed in partnership with Tresys Technology, a recognized leader in SELinux and security services. Tresys heavily contributes to, and hosts, the userspace repository for SELinux.

The use of RTI Data Distribution Service with SELinux allows high-performance distributed systems to meet stringent government and commercial security standards, including DCID 6/3 PL4, DoD 8500.2, NIST 800-53, PCI, SOX and HIPPA. The SELinux security type enforcement introduces a small increase in latency of roughly two percent regardless of message size. For details and performance benchmarks, a whitepaper can be downloaded from http://www.rti.com/mk/securing-rti-dds-selinux.html.

“RTI Data Distribution Service and SELinux are well suited because of RTI’s peer-to-peer messaging architecture,” said Karl MacMillan, director of Core Technology at Tresys. “RTI’s infrastructure is completely embedded within communicating applications, without separate processes such as message brokers or servers and as a result, SELinux is able to fully control all communication. Most other messaging implementations depend on shared processes, which introduce security vulnerabilities and significantly complicate security management.”

Availability

RTI Data Distribution Service and a reference SELinux security policy are available today from RTI.