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Date:      Tue, 9 Apr 2019 13:19:38 +0000
From:      Carmel NY <carmel_ny@outlook.com>
To:        FreeBSD <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org>
Subject:   Re: NIST and FIPS compliance
Message-ID:  <MWHPR04MB04955F5D0F7D6FE78FE07EB6802D0@MWHPR04MB0495.namprd04.prod.outlook.com>
In-Reply-To: <8cf79597-7acf-6b87-c49f-2583d0d13de3@FreeBSD.org>
References:  <1435534691.18734564.1554746797370.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <1435534691.18734564.1554746797370@mail.yahoo.com> <8cf79597-7acf-6b87-c49f-2583d0d13de3@FreeBSD.org>

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On Tue, 9 Apr 2019 10:04:23 +0100, Matthew Seaman stated:

>On 08/04/2019 19:06, Paul Pathiakis via freebsd-questions wrote:
>> I find the whole idea of NIST and FIPS to fly in the face of OSS
>> sanity. However, should there not be a switch in all ports and the OS
>> for things to be built with a FIPS compliant encryption module?
>> Seriously, like the openssl-2.0-fips module? I know it's annoying but
>> the US and Canadian Govts are demanding this of all vendors and
>> contractors.  RH/CentOS is already compliant with this stupidity and,
>> sadly, I think it should be considered.
>>=20
>> And, if this was done, it would allow all derivations of the FreeBSD
>> to be able to access this.  I'm trying for FreeNAS to be used in such
>> an environment. =20
>
>This is definitely an idea that should be considered further.  You
>might want to start a discussion on the freebsd-arch@ or
>freebsd-ports@ mailing lists -- as those are the places you're likely
>to reach the most relevant audience.
>
>I don't know off hand what is required for FIPS compliance --
>presumably this entails some sort of certification by a standardizing
>body that (given certain conditions) a system is compliant -- and that
>is almost certainly going to cost some amount of money.
>
>Whether it is possible to get certification for a generic system, or=20
>whether each different installation needs to be separately certified
>has always been a key question.  Also whether having some sort of=20
>'pre-certification' for the baseline system is a possibility in the=20
>latter case would be good to know.
>
>Ultimately this is going to come down to two things:
>
>   * People with the technical skills required being prepared to=20
>volunteer their time.
>
>   * Money to pay for whatever level of certification we could
> feasibly=20
>achieve.
>
>There's a trade-off here between the cost and effort required and the=20
>resulting benefits.  If this needs money, then the FreeBSD Foundation=20
>should be involved, and they are going to want to see a well-argued=20
>business case before signing any cheques.
>
>	Cheers,
>
>	Matthew

I don't know if this will be of any use to you Matthew.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIPS_140-2

Interestingly enough, Win 10 Pro has an option to enable FIPS;
however, even Microsoft says not to enable it unless you absolutely
have to; i.e., government compliance.

RH/CentOS are already compliant apparently. It would seem
counterproductive for FreeBSD not to be also. In any case, its use
should be made optional.

--=20
Carmel



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