When sharing sensitive information, many intelligence experts would say that it’s important to keep your friends and allies close ... but sometimes not too close. To that end, Raytheon is rolling out the Compartmentalized High Assurance Information Network, or CHAIN, to keep classified information safe online through a compartmented, multitiered networking environment.
Every time a user sends an e-mail and file attachment, talks to other users via instant message or chat rooms, or tries to access a server folder, CHAIN evaluates the user’s security clearance and decides whether to allow access. Users without proper clearance are restricted from viewing a secure chat room or document; e-mail can be tagged for the proper classification level, while an automated adjudicator scans the content of attachments to further ensure security.
A chief objective is to expedite sharing between peers and coalition partners. According to Lt. Gen. John R. Vines of the 18th Airborne Corps: “If we’ve got pictures that only the United States can see, but we are dealing with … 25 other nations, how do we let them see the same picture that we have so we don’t end up creating unintended negative consequences?” By linking coalition members and allies into CHAIN, data can be shared on a need-to-know basis.
“One of the biggest complexities [for users] is the policies involved in how you classify data—how you share it; how you control it; how you audit use, storage and dissemination,” says Bill Stefanski, director of secure architecture systems for network centric systems at Raytheon. CHAIN is designed to fit those policy needs, while paring down the amount of necessary information architecture — which means less networking apparatus, servers and workstations. CHAIN users will likely also need less training on the system, since many are familiar with Windows-based applications.
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