BlueSpace Federal, a provider of Multi-Level Secure (MLS) applications and pioneer of the MLS 2.0 approach, has entered into an integration partnership to produce MLS 2.0 Cross Domain Solutions (CDS) with Tresys Technology, a provider of technology and engineering services for customers with high-security requirements.

Tresys’ expertise in solving complex information security challenges across the Department of Defense, intelligence and critical infrastructure communities, combined with BlueSpace’s MLS 2.0 approach, provide users with a superior, innovative, and cost-effective CDS using proven technologies.

Tresys, based in Columbia, Maryland, is well-known in the cross-domain market for its products and services in assured information sharing, deep content inspection, and secure operating systems. Tresys’ XD Bridge guard is a highly secure, high-performance appliance that has achieved PL5 certification and is priced well below similar products. XD Bridge adds strong security at each layer of the system, including a trusted hardware component and matching trusted operating system (TOS).

"Tresys and BlueSpace have come together to provide a CDS that defines a new level of usability, security, and enterprise-level affordability," said Scott Winn, VP of corporate development at Tresys. "Our XD Bridge guard is designed to meet the most stringent cross-domain security requirements and directly addresses edge-of-network or program-specific data transfer needs."

The BlueSpace-Tresys solution solves security, flexibility, and cost issues associated with other cross-domain approaches. The combined solution saves time and money, and greatly simplifies system certification since it uses an already-certified guard. As an added benefit, MLS 2.0 applications require only the transfer of highly constrained XML, providing increased security and scalability.

"User productivity and user performance are both enhanced with the MLS 2.0 solution and Tresys’ XD Bridge guard," said Pat Motola, CEO and president of BlueSpace. "The system allows users to do more with less, saving time and providing several benefits, including improved situational awareness, more thorough data analysis, decreased time-toaction, and better collaboration."

One of the core strengths of MLS 2.0 applications is increased user productivity and performance over other approaches. When paired with the XD Bridge, the annual total cost of ownership (TCO) for the BlueSpace-Tresys solution is under $300 per user, resulting in annual productivity savings alone in excess of $3,000 per user. MLS 2.0 innovations lower the cost, time, and risk-to-field MLS CDS. Those innovations include:

• Cross-domain mashups and service oriented architectures (SOA): by applying the concept of internet mashups to cross domain, MLS 2.0 provides a unified user interface to applications, services, and data that reside on different security domains
• Smart Windowing: by combining MLS 2.0 "orchestration," trusted workstations, and seamless windowing technology, Smart Windowing provides a cross-domain application experience on a single display
• Direct content access: by providing direct access to original content on its original security domain under the control of the original application, MLS 2.0 greatly improves collaboration, security, and performance compared to copy, filter, and transfer approaches
• Virtual application appliances: MLS 2.0 applications use modern, standards-based technologies and are deployed as single level, virtualised application appliances in each domain. The result is ease of management, scaling, and failover
• Pluggable guards and XML: by utilising the XD Bridge guard and transferring only highly constrained XML, MLS 2.0 is very secure and scalable. Cross-domain certification is simplified to approval of the XML schema
• Agile architecture: MLS 2.0 works with tagged Smart Data and traditional networks, cloud, or traditional architectures and provides application access from any browser