[$] Compartmentalized computing with CLIP OS
People searching for a hardened Linux distribution have a wide
range to choose from: they can use one of the security-focused offerings, or
they can, with sufficient expertise, simply apply hardening patches and
build everything to their taste. Such
systems, of which Qubes OS is a
good example, usually concentrate on the user's privacy. Recently, the French cybersecurity agency
(ANSSI) released the source code for CLIP OS, its hardened operating
system based on Linux. CLIP OS has been in development for more than ten
years and, while sharing many elements with other hardened Linux
distributions, this one is targeted to different needs: the focus is on
providing maximum isolation between confidentiality levels and
different users of the same system. As an illustration: the
administrator is not able to access other users' data.