What is Common Criteria?

Cybersecurity has become a top priority for industries as well as governments around the world. Defense companies and government departments are being urged to adopt data encryption to enhance cybersecurity.

Standardized as ISO/IEC 15408, the Common Criteria (CC) is an international benchmark recognized by 26 countries that provides an infrastructure to define assurance and functional requirements, i.e., manufacturers can create and claim certain product features, and certain testing labs can evaluate those products to verify whether they meet those claims.

What is the Purpose of Common Criteria?

IT vendors – large and small – make proclamations about the security of their products all the time. Without some evidence to back their claim, their customers would be forced to take the vendor’s word regarding the claim’s accuracy.

The CC evaluation is beneficial to customers because it brings in independent third parties to validate those vendor claims against internationally-accepted standards. Regardless of your industry, you naturally want assurance that the products you purchase and use will meet your security requirements. Independent third-party evaluators can give you greater confidence in vendor claims.

Benefits of CC evaluations include:

• Standardized examination methods so that you are guaranteed unbiased and consistent results.
• Examinations against recognized industry standard metrics and criteria so you have confidence that the measures are complete and relevant.
• The credibility of the third party is the basis for trusting the results; third parties that use open processes for standards development and publication of results offer the greatest credibility.