Evaluation Issues

In this essay we present an introduction to evaluation issues in the United States and European Community (EC) to illustrate the two schools of thought. Following development of draft national and regional criteria, the US, Canada, and EC are working on Common Criteria (CC). We compare the proposed evaluation approaches in the hope that in the international process of developing the Common Criteria there will be a convergence to assist the multinational producers of secure products and systems in evaluation by different national entities. Interoperability of IT and IT security to support electronic commerce depends, in part, on an acceptance of evaluated products in different countries and regions. Therefore, an important aspect of evaluation is the development of international agreements for reciprocity of evaluations of secure products.