R14.4: Security Label Support in M-Link (Isode's XMPP Server)

This is the fifth in a series of messages describing new features in Isode R14.4, scheduled to ship in April 2009. You can see all of the messages on this blog relating to R14.4 by clicking on this link

In R14.4 we'll be adding Security Label support to M-Link (our XMPP Server). The overall approach for this is described in our whitepaper "Using Security Labels to Control Message Flow in XMPP Services".

These features extend M-Link so that it will control XMPP messages switched, based on a Security Policy configured for the M-Link server.

M-Link will have Security Enforcing checks to ensure that messages are labelled according to Security Policy (including US GENSER; NATO ACP 322; UK JSP 457), and that they are only sent to destinations (Users, Peer Servers, and MUC (Multi User Chat) Rooms) which have a Security Clearance that matches the Security Label on the message.

Security Labels are handled according to XEP-0258, to provide the following functionality:

• Support of the standard ESS Security labels, as specified in RFC 2634: Enhanced Security Services for S/MIME.
• Display Labelling and Discovery Services enable XMPP clients to support Security Labels without needing complex Security Policy support.