Belkin Receives EAL 4+ Certification for DVI-I KVM and Secure KM Product Portfolio

Belkin’s Award-Winning KVM Switches Receive Common Criteria Certificate, Providing Government Buyers with Assurance Based on Stringent Computer Security Requirements

Belkin, a trusted leader of technology solutions for office, classroom, IT infrastructure, and mobile environments, today announced that the company has received Evaluation Assurance Level (EAL) 4+ certification for its DVI-I KVM and Secure KM products. Designed to meet the strict requirements of government agencies, the keyboard/video/mouse switches feature the award-winning secure technology of true data path isolation between systems and networks, the hallmark of Belkin’s Advanced Secure KVM product family.

Common Criteria lists seven levels, with EAL 1 as the most basic, and EAL 7 the most stringent. Each EAL corresponds to a package of security assurance requirements, which covers the complete development of a product, with a given level of strictness and control. This Common Criteria certification is globally known as the international standard (ISO/IEC 15408) for computer security certification.

In the U.S., the highest level achievable for Secure KVM is EAL 2. However, Belkin was able to receive certification through Canadian protocol, which tests to EAL 4+. Certification was awarded by the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC).

The CSEC’s Certification Report stated: “The results documented in the Evaluation Technical Report (ETR) for this product provide sufficient evidence that it meets the EAL 4 augmented assurance requirements for the evaluated security functionality.” The report also noted that by awarding a Common Criteria certificate, the Canadian Common Criteria Evaluation and Certification Scheme (CCS) asserts that the evaluated products comply with the security requirements specified in the associated security target.

“Common Criteria ensures that the process of specification, implementation, and evaluation of a computer security product has been conducted in a rigorous, standard, and repeatable manner,” said Luis Artiz, director of product management, Business Division, Belkin International. “Receiving EAL 4+ certification assures our government buyers that they can continue to place a high level of confidence in Belkin’s KVM security features based on the quality assurance process.”

Belkin’s DVI-I KVM switches provide true data path isolation for government workstations in a highly secure environment. The switches can be used to securely connect peripheral devices, including audio equipment and large high-resolution displays, and to switch quickly among multiple PCs and networks with a single keyboard, monitor, mouse, and common access card reader.

The Secure KM Switch portfolio offers users secure switching between isolated networks with simple mouse pointer movement. The switches feature single, unbuffered, dedicated processors for each peripheral port, which allow analysts to work simultaneously on multiple networks at different security levels.