X.400 security features

CCITT Recommendation X.400 describes a Message Handling System (MHS) of global extent. Far from being an experimental network, the MHS will be for serious business use. It will be used for confidential messaging; for Electronic Data Interchange (EDI); but above all, it will be a service that its users must be able to rely on for the conduct of their day to day business. Because of these considerations, the 1988 recommendations include a comprehensive security model amongst the many enhancements to X.400 (1984). This model analyses the vulnerabilities of an MHS and as a consequence identifies the security services necessary to protect an MHS from the perceived threats. The implementation of these services is then specified as a number of `security extensions´ to the original protocol, which when implemented as part of a trusted system may be used to provide the required security services