NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

has defined the concept of an Information Exchange Gateway (IEG) to facilitate secure communication between different security and management domains. The IEG is designed to provide a standard and secure method of communication between NATO, NATO nations, non-NATO nations,

coalition force A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or Economy, economic spaces. Formation According ...

Non Government Organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

s (NGOs), and other International Organisations (IOs). An Information Exchange Gateway provides Information Exchange Services (IES) to facilitate the exchange of information between networks, including data and protocol translation where necessary, and Information Protection Services (IPS) that ensure only intended information is exchanged. In addition, Node Protection Services (NPS) ensure information is exchanged in a safe and secure way and that only intended information which has been validated by the IPS can be exchanged. NATO has defined five main IEG scenarios each with scenario variants for transferring

classified information Classified information is confidential material that a government deems to be sensitive information which must be protected from unauthorized disclosure that requires special handling and dissemination controls. Access is restricted by law or ...

. The scenarios take account of the security classifications of the domains that they connect, as well as the security policy, the owners and the administrators of those domains. In some scenarios, an IEG must include a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

to provide the IPS and NPS functions. When used with a guard, the IEG's

DMZ A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between states, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or boundary ...

is split into two.

Implementation

Nexor Nexor Limited is a privately held company based in Nottingham, providing products and services to safeguard government, defence and critical national infrastructure computer systems. It was originally known as X-Tel Services Limited. History N ...

implemented an IEG demonstrator for the

European Defence Agency The European Defence Agency (EDA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) that promotes and facilitates integration between member states within the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The EDA is headed by the EU High Represent ...

References

{{Reflist Computer security Information technology organizations based in Europe