Have a system you want hardened against a defined standard?

SHP applies defined hardening requirements to eligible systems, verifies the resulting device state, and — where certification issuance is operationally available and all applicable requirements are satisfied — provides a governed path to certification.

The starting point is simple:

Tell us what system you have and what you are trying to achieve.

You do not need to determine the applicable tier, specification set, or certification eligibility before making an enquiry.

We can first establish whether the system falls within a supported SHP platform and what SHP work is applicable.

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How an SHP engagement works

An SHP engagement follows a defined path from initial enquiry to a governed result.

1. You tell us about the system

Tell us what system you have, what you are trying to achieve, and anything unusual about the intended scope.

You do not need to determine the applicable tier, specification set, or certification eligibility yourself.

Initial enquiry does not require passwords, private keys, authentication tokens, recovery material, or sensitive evidence.

2. We determine whether SHP applies

We establish whether the proposed target falls within a formally supported SHP platform and whether applicable SHP work can be offered.

No platform is implicitly supported.

Platform support does not itself establish certification signing readiness or service availability.

3. We scope and quote the engagement

If the proposed work is within SHP scope, we define the proposed engagement before work begins.

The scope and quote identify:

the target device or system
the supported platform
the applicable specification set
the intended tier or certification class
permitted exclusions, where applicable
engagement deliverables
relevant prerequisites
price
payment terms
relevant scheduling or timing assumptions
other applicable commercial terms

Where an item does not apply to the particular engagement, it may be identified as not applicable rather than silently omitted where that omission could make the agreed scope ambiguous.

The quote is for the defined engagement and its governed deliverables.

It is not an offer to sell a predetermined certification result.

The engagement cannot redefine the SHP standard or waive requirements merely for commercial convenience.

4. You accept the engagement

The engagement proceeds only after the defined scope and applicable commercial terms have been accepted and any pre-work requirements stated in the accepted quote have been satisfied.

Acceptance establishes the agreed engagement scope and commercial terms.

Payment is handled according to the terms stated in the accepted quote.

Acceptance or payment does not establish certification eligibility, guarantee certification, waive an applicable requirement, or create certification signing authority.

5. The system is hardened

Applicable hardening controls are applied to the defined target.

Applicable Non-Negotiable Controls remain hard gates and cannot be negotiated away to obtain a desired certification result.

6. The resulting state is verified

The resulting system state is evaluated under the applicable SHP verification rules.

Verification evaluates what the system actually satisfies.

A failed, unsupported, indeterminate, or otherwise non-qualifying condition is not silently converted into success.

7. A certification decision is made

Certification is not guaranteed by purchasing or completing an engagement.

The certification result follows from the verified state and the applicable certification decision rules.

Where production certification issuance is not operationally available, the engagement cannot be represented as having produced SHP certification.

8. You receive the governed result

The engagement concludes with the applicable engagement deliverables.

The delivered result reflects the authoritative outcome of the engagement.

Where certification is validly issued, the applicable certification artefacts may form part of those deliverables.

Where certification is not issued, that outcome remains explicit. A completed engagement does not require a successful certification outcome.

9. Certification has a lifecycle

Any certification that is issued is device-bound, state-bound, specification-bound, and time-bounded.

Expiry results in Expired — Not Certified.

Revocation results in Revoked — Not Certified.

Relevant state change may invalidate certification or require re-verification under the applicable SHP rules.

Where re-verification is required, a new certification decision is required before SHP certification can again represent the current state.

What you are actually buying

An SHP engagement is not the purchase of a certificate.

You are purchasing a defined hardening, verification, and result-delivery engagement conducted under the SHP standard.

Certification is a possible governed outcome only where the verified state satisfies the applicable certification requirements and certification issuance is operationally available.

You are buying the governed process and its result — not a predetermined certification outcome.

How the service relates to the standard

SHP certification services apply the Structured Hardening Project standard to eligible certification targets.

They do not define the standard.

The standard defines what certification means. A service provides a governed way to perform the work required to reach a certification decision.

The applicable SHP specifications determine:

what platforms are supported
what threat model applies
which controls apply
how those controls are verified
how tier and NNC rules operate
how certification decisions are made
how certification is signed
how expiry, revocation, drift, and invalidation affect status

A service cannot waive or redefine those requirements.

Service availability is separate from platform support

SHP currently has formally supported platforms.

That does not automatically mean that production certification issuance is operational for those platforms.

Three states must remain separate:

Platform Support

means that the platform has been formally admitted through an applicable Active Platform Admission Record.

Certification Signing Readiness

means that the required operational SHP trust infrastructure exists for issuing certification artefacts for that platform.

Service Availability

means that a certification service is actually being offered.

None of these states should be inferred from another.

Current certification-service status

Public certification issuance must not be represented as available until the applicable operational signing infrastructure has been established under the SHP trust architecture.

Until that condition is satisfied, SHP platform specifications, verification work, hardening procedures, and service preparation do not themselves constitute an operational certification-issuance service.

When certification services become publicly available, their scope must be stated explicitly.

What the service is not

SHP certification services are not:

general IT support
managed infrastructure
a managed security service
continuous monitoring
incident response
vulnerability-management outsourcing
a guarantee against compromise
permanent certification
permission to expand SHP into unrelated technical support

The scope is deliberately narrow.

We harden against defined requirements.

We verify the resulting state.

Where operationally available and eligible, SHP certification records the governed result.

We do not become the customer’s general IT department.

No guarantee language

Certification does not guarantee that compromise cannot occur.

A certification means only what the applicable threat model, control scope, evidence, verification result, specification versions, certification class or tier, and validity period establish.

Nothing more should be inferred.