DEC has published a new security specification for distributed multivendor systems called the Distributed System Security Architecture. Designed for commercial and government users, the specification is said to provide a security framework for current and future applications, and for operating systems based on OSI and TCP/IP environments. The architecture was published in the US earlier this year, and the company claims that it is not attempting to establish DSSA as a standard, but to promote discussion about standards. Security across distributed multivendor systems is still a dark art, and DEC says that development of products and standards must be a cooperative industry effort. Some of the principles in DSSA have also been adopted by the OSF. One of these is the Kerberos Concept, an authentication method for campus type environments and an integral part of Ultrix, but now modified in DSSA for a global environment. Based on the X500 hierarchy, DSSA has a number of Certification Stations which hold information to verify user identification and then pass that verification on to other participants in the network. One of the the most important features of DSSA is its use of cryptographic technology, and the company claims it would take centuries of Cray computing to fake an identification. DSSA is part of DEC’s Integrated Security programme, intended to provide security services and enhancements to the built-in security features of Ultrix v.4.0 and VMS v.5.4. DEC says that the Distributed System Security Architecture DSSA will also be featured in future versions of VMS and Ultrix.
