Brocade Fabric OS Encryption Administrator's Guide Supporting Fabric OS v6.2.0 (53-1001201-04, May 2009)

Encryption Administrator’s Guide 225

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Appendix

FIPS Specifications

The FIPS-140 standard

The official title for the standard Federal Information Processing Standard 140 (FIPS-140) is

Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules. FIPS 140-2 is the second revision of the

standard, and was released in 2001.

FIPS compliance

Table 26 gives a brief overview of FIPS security levels. Each level of security requires complete

satisfaction of the lower levels to claim compliance. The Brocade encryption engine meets Level 3

requirements (highlighted in gray).

For more information on FIPS and certifications, see the National Institute of Standards and

Technology Computer Security Resource Center (NIST CSRC) at http://csrc.nist.gov/index.html.

TABLE 26 FIPS security levels

FIPS Security Level Description

Level 1 Production-grade components tested with at least one approved security function

deployed. Software components of a cryptographic module can be executed on general

purpose computers with an unevaluated operating system.

Level 2 Cryptographic module must provide tamper-evidence, which usually consists of a coating

or seal that must be broken to access the CSPs. The operating system must provide

role-based authentication and discretionary access controls that protect against

unauthorized execution, modification, and reading of cryptographic software, as well as

audit mechanisms. The operating system must be approved to Common Criteria EAL2.

Level 3 The cryptographic module is expected to detect and respond to tampering by zeroizing all

cleartext CSPs. Identity-based authentication mechanisms are required, along with

physically separate ports for CSPs and mechanisms to protect CSPs against timing

analysis attacks.

Level 4 Requires a complete envelope of protection around the cryptographic module with the

intent of detecting and responding to all unauthorized attempts at physical access so that

the device can operate in a physically unprotected environment. Two factor authentication

is required and the device must detect fluctuations outside of the module’s normal

operating ranges for voltage and temperature. Software must provide extensive auditing

and strong protection of CSPs from unauthorized disclosure and modification when the

module is inactive.