CyberGuard 360, a leading cybersecurity firm whose expertise is solution sets of products to detect and mitigate threats from cyber attacks, today announced that the enrollment period for its first-to-market SAFE (Secured Assured Fortified Educated) Certification Program for industry Managed Service Providers(MSPs), MSSPs and Third Party Vendors is now open.
Interested parties can apply for SAFE certification by visiting https://cyberguard360.com/safe-certification/.
“This is long overdue,” says Al Alper, CyberGuard 360 CEO, whose firm has pioneered the effort to develop and implement a comprehensive Certification process.
He describes SAFE as the IT industry’s equivalent of UL Certification or the Better Business Bureau stamp of approval for a business and believes initial applicants for certification will be organizations with access to or which host/store vast amounts of data from multiple companies. In particular, he sees Managed Service Providers and Third-Party Providers being first to seek certification (those who have access to or host applications that store sensitive or personally identifiable information).
Alper, an industry thought leader who has addressed executives at NASDAQ, MIT and Harvard Business School on the subject of cyber threats, believes that the IT industry needs to do a far better job when it comes to assuring all end users that their MSPs and third party providers adhere to best-practices and maintain infrastructures that are as invulnerable to penetration and attack as possible. “And saying it is not enough,” he said. “We need to walk the walk.”
“Think of what is at stake,” he said. “For MSPs and others, it’s not only their own data at risk, but the data of every business or organization that they have access to or host.” He said, “Consider the recent breaches of First American Financial, Complete Technology Solutions and Quest Diagnostics; these providers span finance, IT and healthcare, exposing the private information of hundreds of millions of individuals and leading to some companies going out of business. These few examples were, in short a catastrophe for the institutions that relied on them.” “This is quickly becoming a front burner issue,” he said. “There is no governing body in our industry which does this. And the burden of proof of protection rests squarely on the shoulders of the MSPs and Third Party Providers, and customers will demand proof that their providers are up to speed on the latest protections.” He said, “Customers will no longer take it on faith that a Managed Services Provider has done everything he/she can to be up to speed with the very latest in protection. They will require proof.”
The SAFE Certification Program will assure end users that the provider they chose has passed a rigorous evaluation process and that any deficiencies found within their system have been addressed. “When a business seeks a Managed Service Provider, having a certification which we believe will become the industry standard will be that client’s assurance that their provider takes data protection and security extremely seriously.”
The SAFE Certification itself will be issued by CyberGuard 360, and certification will be based on the framework provided by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). Following the NIST guidelines, SAFE Certification applicants will go through a rigorous evaluation from a vetted, certified independent auditor, who are not employed by or connected to CyberGuard360.
The certifying auditors will evaluate the applicant’s security and provide a comprehensive report of its findings to CyberGuard360. If the applicant successfully passes the evaluation, he/she will receive SAFE Certification. Should the auditor determine deficiencies, the applicant will be informed of what they are and can re-apply for certification when the deficiencies have been remediated. The process can take up to six weeks to complete.
Alper said, “With the increased number of hacks that we hear about, end users such as health care facilities, banks and other organizations whose infrastructure contains sensitive information will increasingly demand that their providers show proof that they are doing everything they can to protect information.” He said, “Certification will assure their customers that they have put in place the policies, procedures and technologies to protect customer/client/patient and employee information.”
The application period is officially open. Interested parties are urged to visit https://cyberguard360.com/safe-certification/.
About CyberGuard360
CyberGuard360 is a cybersecurity company that designs and builds cybersecurity products and services to enable enterprise IT departments and channel partners who are charged with protecting the companies they serve from the cyber threat landscape. Founder/CEO Al Alper launched this company to address a need he has seen in the market – for a strong cyber security protection suite of technology and services that can be managed within a single-pane-of-glass; obviating the need to use 5 or more systems to protect an enterprise. The company was also designated as a Champion of National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) 2017 and has expansive experience with and knowledge of cyber regulations such as New York State’s Department of Financial Services’ new cyber security regulations (23 NYCRR 500). Al Alper is also the founder/CEO of an IT company, Absolute Logic (http:/absolutelogiccom). CyberGuard360 maintains offices in Wilton, CT and Larchmont, NY, as well as other satellite locations throughout the region. For additional information, call 844-315-9882 or contact via the web at https://cyberguard360.com.
