This effort proposes to analyze and develop a design for the Secure Inter-organizational Network Boundary Assurance Device (SINBAD). SINBAD will leverage capabilities and leverage lessons from guard technology to yield an enhanced boundary control and inspection capability suitable for Homeland Security organizations exchanging inter-organizational email with attachments. It will 1) prevent improper disclosure of an organization's sensitive information, and 2) protect an organization's Information Technology (IT) infrastructure from outside penetration. SINBAD will be installed between an organization's internal network and existing firewall. It will be modular and extensible, thus it will be able to leverage software inspection capabilities developed by third parties within an affordable, yet secure, network appliance, SE-Linux based platform. SINBAD will be packaged as a preinstalled 1U to 2U network device allowing it to easily connect to a network, configured and made operational. Essential SINBAD capabilities will likely include: virus detection, in depth filetype verification, hidden data detection, sender/receiver validation (to include digital signatures should Public Key Infrastructure [PKI] exist within the organization), enforcement of port-address restrictions, malicious code detection, dirty word checking, content screening based on semantic distance, remote administration, feedback and quarantine of denied transfers, crisis override and an easily configured eXtensible Markup Language (XML)-based policy model.
