Industry maps out security blueprint for business

Daily Newsletters

Topics

NEWS

An industry group is promoting better handling of security policy within companies with an initiative that draws on firms' experience of accounting principles. The Generally Accepted Information Security Principles (GAISP), launched at the RSA Conference in San Francisco, are intended as a set of guidelines like the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) that US corporations follow when they submit their accounts. GAISP will include a set of procedures by which any company can derive its own security architecture. The industry group promoting them, ISSA (Information Systems Security Association), will promote GAISP as a badge of honour for companies that are secure, and hopes the analogy will make it easy for companies to grasp the value of following GAISP. The work began in 1990 under the name GASSP (Generally Accepted System Security Principles), and draws on other work including IS 17799, the standard for a security code of practice from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which was originally developed by the British Standards Institute. "It is an initiative for companies to prove their level of security," said Kurt Roemer, regional systems engineer at NetContinuum, and on the ISSA board. "Standards like IS 17799 are not prescriptive enough." A more prescriptive part of the IS 17799 standard is being created, but even this allows companies to set their security targets low, and thereby appear to comply, according to the ISSA. "GAISP will be consistent right from the board to the trenches," said risk management specialist Will Ozier, of ODA, a long-time worker on GAISP with ISSA. "It will use quantitative risk metrics, putting values on the data and the risks to it. The standard will get pretty damn specific." Although GAAP is a US-only standard -- owing to the difference in accounting practices in different countries -- the ISSA hopes to make GAISP an international specification. It will be launched in Europe at the Infosec show in London on 29 April. ISSA, a volunteer organisation, was founded in the US 20 years ago, but has several chapters in Europe. The group has mapped the ISO standard and others to GAISP, so that compliance to GAISP would automatically imply compliance with the looser IS 17799, which could be useful in countries that might mandate IS 17799. "We are not recreating the wheel," said Roemer. "We endorse IS 17799." GAISP will be complete by the end of 2003, according to Mike Rasmussen, director of research at analyst firm Giga Information Group, and vice president of marketing for ISSA. "It will be a living document," he said. "It will be updated on a twice-yearly or quarterly basis." The initiative has been funded by several security vendors, including Computer Associates, NetScreen, Sun Microsystems and Symantec. "It's a win-win situation with Sun's commitment to standards and best practice," said Joanne Masters, director of Sun's global security programmes office. In time ISSA hopes that GAISP compliance will be audited by third parties, just as with GAAP, but the concept needs to gain more acceptance through take-up by companies.

For all security-related news, including updates on the latest viruses, hacking exploits and patches, check out ZDNet UK's Security News Section. Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

ZDNet UK Live

Well it seems there is something a number of us agree on. Why is the Ubuntu Unity launcher so ugly? I thought perhaps it was something to do with...

4 hours ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Duplicate comments are not made intentionally. Its very good to know that now you are keeping check on this problem because sometimes a commenter...

13 hours ago by Freebies202 on Microsoft fixes blog comments, speeds up blogs with open source

"the very significant number of users" and "many (most) of us" - you have no evidence for these statements. It is a fact that most users are saying...

21 hours ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Another grammar faux pas is the improper use of "you". When sitting down down in a restaurant, for example, I get cringe when the waitress...

23 hours ago by Marg Menzies Harrison via Facebook on 10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid

And NOW, folks, for Canonical's next trick... Kubuntu is late. Here's a pencil. Draw your own conclusions. cf.:...

23 hours ago by zdnetukuser on Linux Minterface

@kevinmchapman. The discussion here reflects the very significant number of users who really do like the traditional menu system and who wish to...

1 day ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Er, no... It is an efficient means of finding the application/file/setting you need in one place. The icons are a simply a fallback for when you...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Isn't the provision of a text based search an admission by the developers that the mass of icons approach does not work? I don't need to use a...

1 day ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

"Unity and GNOME 3 both abandon the old text-based cascading menus in favour of a graphical icon-driven system." Point truly missed. Both use a...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

whs001 - Thank you, I'm glad you liked the article. I absolutely agree with you on your first point. I should perhaps have made it clearer that...

1 day ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

If we allow corporate interest to dictate the way our government circumvents due process against foreign entities then we should accept the same...

1 day ago by Dennis Nilsson via Facebook on ACTA stumbles in Germany

I totally dislike pirating of works, I fear that artists will be deterred from creating works if they think that they are going to get ripped off....

1 day ago by GHar123 on ACTA stumbles in Germany

How dare film makers, artists or anybody that invests in creativity stop us pirating their works for free. I want to be able to walk into my local...

2 days ago by JCB33 on ACTA stumbles in Germany

@GrueMaster. I prefer horses for courses rather than one size fits all. I, and I suspect most other computer users, do not really wish to have...

2 days ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

The product that scares me every time I have to use it is the Office 2007 version of Excel. The first bug that I found was applying the median...

2 days ago by greycynic on Ten flawed products that derail productivity

Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...

2 days ago by GrueMaster on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...

2 days ago by Frederick Wrigley via Facebook on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Excellent article. One small correction, though--although a fresh installation of Linux Mint 12 will, indeed, provide the user with a version of...

2 days ago by bdantas on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

2 days ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

2 days ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

Industry maps out security blueprint for business

Daily Newsletters

Topics

Related stories

RSA backs Liberty Alliance with 'Nexus' strategy

RSA: Split passwords make secrets safer

Multiple security tools debut in SF

Heart of England NHS begins massive digitisation plan

Hard-drive woes hit PC shipments in fourth quarter

Post your comment

ZDNet UK Live

Latest in IT Strategy

Heart of England NHS begins massive digitisation plan

Hard-drive woes hit PC shipments in fourth quarter

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

PHP Web Developer - html, css, javascript

Java Developer, Online Gaming, London

Quant Dev, Hedge Fund, FX, Excel VBA

Inside ZDNet UK

A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

2012 Predictions: VCE FastPath, VI SAN Probe & Hadoop

BlackBerry Bold 9790

Make faster, smarter decisions using BI

Ten factors that make Ubuntu 11.10 a hit

Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P Review

BT's archive: Pictures from the vault

News & Analysis

Reviews

Blogs

Resources

About Us

Member Services

Special Features

Advertising Features

ZDNet UK / News and Analysis / Business of IT / IT Strategy

Industry maps out security blueprint for business

Daily Newsletters

Topics

Related stories

Post your comment

Get ZDNet UK's daily newsletter

Enter your email address to sign up

ZDNet UK Live

Latest in IT Strategy

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

Inside ZDNet UK

Resources

About Us

Member Services

Special Features

Advertising Features