CESG Claims Tested Mark
UK Government Standard for computer security
The CESG Claims Tested Mark (abbreviated as CCT Mark or CCTM), formerly known as the CSIA Claims Tested Mark, is a UK Government Standard for computer security.
The CCT Mark is based upon a framework in which vendors can make claims about the security attributes of their products and services, and independent testing laboratories can evaluate these products and services to determine whether they actually meet those claims. In other words, the CCT Mark provides a quality assurance approach to validate whether the implementation of a computer security product or service has been carried out in an appropriate manner.
01History
The CCT Mark was developed under the auspices of the UK Government's Central Sponsor for Information Assurance (CSIA), which is part of the Cabinet Office's Intelligence, Security and Resilience (ISR) function. The role of providing specialist input to the CCT Mark fell to CESG as the UK National Technical Authority (NTA) for Information Security, who assumed responsibility for the scheme as a whole on 7 April 2008.
02Operation
All Testing Laboratories must comply with ISO 17025, with the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) carrying out the accreditation.
03Comparisons
The CCT Mark is often compared to the international Common Criteria (CC), which is simultaneously both correct and incorrect:
- Both provide methods for achieving a measure of assurance of computer security products and systems
- Neither can provide a guarantee that approval means that no exploitable flaws exist, but rather reduce the likelihood of such flaw being present
- The Common Criteria is constructed in a layered manner, with multiple Evaluation Assurance Level (EAL) specifications being available with increasing complexity, timescale and costs as the EAL number rises
- Common Criteria is supported by a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA), which, at the lower EAL numbers at least, means that products tested in one country will normally be accepted in other markets
- The CCT Mark is aimed at the same market as the lower CC EAL numbers (currently EAL1/2), and has been specifically designed for timescale and cost efficiency
04Future
In September 2010, CESG announced that the product assurance element of CCT Mark would be "overtaken" by the new Commercial Product Assurance (CPA) approach. It is unclear whether CCT Mark remained in existence for assurance of Information Security services.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “CESG Claims Tested Mark”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
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