Apollo Computer Inc is working to capture more government contracts through a secure implementation of Unix and attract general business with closer adherence to the Unix standard. Although Apollo has long been accepted as a Unix workstation company, until recently Unix was not native on the Apollo Domain system, but the Chelmsford, Massachusetts company has now undertaken a project to integrate its proprietary Domain networking software with the AT&T and Berkeley versions of Unix. It anticipates that the work involved in integrating Unix into the Domain kernel without compromising its proprietary operating system will take a couple of years to complete. The secure implementation is also likely to take a few years – once the implementation is completed to the company’s satisfaction, it can take anything up to 18 months to be validated. Several companies claim a level of secure Unix, but to date only Gould has had its UTX/32S version ratified by the US National Security Centre to C2 level of the Pentagon’s Directive 145. Apollo is aiming for a High B rating; Gould says that its C2 version has a number of B- type elements and might have passed at B – but failure means starting over.
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