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43

PP 3.0 is internationally recognized:

The previous protection profile was not widely

adopted outside the United States, with many

countries developing their own requirements over

the years. This caused a lack of standardization in the

security of peripheral sharing switch products. PP 3.0

is a true international effort, having passed through

agencies and certification bodies from Australia,

Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Israel,

Italy, Japan, UK, Poland, Spain, Turkey and NATO.

The boTTom line

This is a good thing, and a significant step toward

more secure networks. But don’t worry—no one

needs to go out and start ripping and replacing non-

PP 3.0 compliant devices. In fact, the first PP 3.0

compliant KVM systems are only just now becoming

available. However, the next time your organization

purchases a secure KVM, ensure that unit complies

with the new protection profile. Your business will be

more secure for it.

Michael Parvin is Product Manager for the Secure and Standard Desktop Products at Emerson Network Power.

He can be reached at

Michael.Parvin@Emerson.com

The Road To PP 3.0

The National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP)

understands security threats as well as any such organization

can, but it understands its blind spots—namely seeing security

and security technologies from the perspective of the

companies who rely on those technologies. For that reason,

NIAP typically enlists industry experts from companies that

develop security technologies to help with updates to security

guidelines and requirements.

After receiving concerns from security consultants related to

peripheral device security, NIAP reached out to Emerson

Network Power for assistance with PP 3.0. Emerson’s Michael

Parvin became the technical editor and led the development of

the document that spells out the new protection profile. Parvin

and the PSS Technical Community started their work in January

2014 and met—either in person or via phone—every other week

until the final document was released in January of this year.