Ask Our Experts (AOE): What is JIL Inside an EAL Rating?
Microchip expert Todd Slack explains how the JIL rating from Common Criteria (CC) fits within an EAL rating and what it means for secure key storage devices.
The following question and answer comes from our Ask Our Experts About Secure Elements playlist on YouTube.
How Does Joint Interpretation Library (JIL) Fit Within the Evaluation Assurance Level (EAL) Rating Often Mentioned in the Security Market?
Watch the response on YouTube.
JIL and EAL are very closely related. EAL is an Evaluation Assurance Level, which is part of the Common Criteria Assessment. There are a number of assurance classes within the larger Common Criteria Assessment. One of those is AVA_VAN.[something]. AVA_VAN requires you to get a JIL score along the way to determine how well you've protected your keys; this is the Vulnerability Assessment. EAL 4 requires Enhanced Basic—JIL Enhanced Basic. JIL Moderate moves you to EAL 5, and if you go to JIL High, those are associated with things like EAL 6 and 7, traditionally associated with banking sorts of industry, maybe some government high priority assets would require that highest level of assessments. And so our devices like the Trust Anchor and our ECC [CryptoAuthentication family] Family have achieved JIL High, which is associated with EAL 6 and 7 and AVA_VAN.5.
Want More?
For more information, check out our Ask Our Experts About Secure Elements playlist on YouTube and our secure elements web page. Watch the previous video where we discuss JIL.