In February 2013 Microsoft received the Common Criteria (CC) certificate for SQL Server 2012 SP1 Enterprise Edition (English) x64 (Version 11.0.3000.0) at EAL4+ and compliant with U.S. Government Protection Profile for Database Management Systems, Version 1.3, 24 December 2010. See the actual CC certification screen shot below.

This is the 7th CC certification for SQL Server, starting with SQL Server 2005 SP1 in 2007. These certifications enable governments and major enterprise customers understand the security functionalities and quality of those functionalities of SQL Server 2012.

This certification is formally recognized by the governments of 26 countries that have signed the Common Criteria Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CCRA) and by as many as 40 more governments on a product by product basis. The Common Criteria is more than just the concise definitions of security functionalities and assurance requirements. It is also a precise evaluation process defined in the Common Evaluation Methodology document. In addition, it is a formal and approved evaluation scheme for each nation performing CC evaluations. And it is a government certification based on government working with a private evaluation lab certified in that country.

For more detailed information about SQL Server certifications, please go to Security & Compliance site and Common Criteria site.