Grace Hammonds

Grace Hammonds began working at MITRE in 1973 in the Intelligence & Information Systems department after earning her master’s degree in mathematics from Georgia Institute of Technology. She and a fellow student were the institute’s first black female graduates. Soon after, she joined MITRE, working in support of an Air Force project to foster the widespread availability of trusted computer systems. Hammonds published a report in 1979, Proposed Technical Evaluation for Trusted Computer Systems (M79-225), that laid out a set of technical criteria for the evaluation of commercial off-the-shelf operating systems.

Her work was the basis for a Department of Defense standard, Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria, more commonly known as the “Orange Book.” It was the centerpiece of the “Rainbow Series,” a set of computer security standards and guidelines published by the Department of Defense. Hammond’s work was foundational to modern cybersecurity and was key to the development of the Worldwide Military Command and Control System (WWMCS) . After leaving MITRE in 1988 , she co-founded AGCS, Inc., a computer security consulting firm.

Resources:

M79-225 – Proposed Technical Evaluation Criteria For Trusted Computing Systems
M79-228 – Specification of a Trusted Computing Base (TCB)
Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria [“Orange Book”]

Public Release #23-03271-4