Scanit and the British Standards Institution in partnership to offer network security certification in UAE

Scanit R&D Labs, the recently launched department within Scanit, will spearhead and facilitate the certification process.

The partnership will make Scanit the premier BSI associate consultant in the UAE, providing such certification and training services. BSI is the National Standards Body of the UK and develops standards and standardization solutions, the organization also develops private, national and international standards across different industries. BSI Management Systems provides independent certification and training of management systems and develops private, national and international standards across different industries.

"Research verifies that wireless networks are a growing trend in the region. Such networks are extremely vulnerable to external threats if not properly secured. Alarmingly, there is a major lack in the technical skills required to secure wireless networks - skills which are very different from those required to secure physical networks within business organizations,"

said Christophe Faems, Chief Operating Officer of Scanit Middle East. "Our partnership with the British Standards Institution brings an international, vendor independent, standard by which to benchmark security skills."

BS ISO/IEC 27001:2005 (BS 7799-2:2002) is the new international standard that provides a specification for Information Security Management System (ISMS) and the foundation for third-party audit and certification. The standard is also complementary to the new standard BS ISO/IEC 17799:2005 (BS 7799-1:2002).

"The basic objective of the standard is to help establish and maintain an effective information security management system, using a continual improvement approach," said Mohamed Saif, Middle East Business Development at BSI Management Systems. "Gaining BS ISO/IEC 27001 (BS 7799-2:2002) certification for online security equips enterprises with the technical skills and managerial systems to streamline and minimize security breaches."

Scanit and BSI will work together to implement tailor made strategies that meet ISO 27001/BS 7799 security standards while at the same time understanding each organization's unique business requirements and processes. Such mechanisms will enable enterprises to adapt readily to more elusive threats and therefore deal with them before they create business critical damage.

"As an external security auditor & consultant, Scanit has long recommeneded that its clients seek to attain higher standards for the systems they have in place," continued Faems. "The certification process that we are offering jointly with The British Standard Institution will act as the final process to our audits, giving our clients confirmation that they are up to date with current international standards and procedures."

Scanit had announced that Karel Vankeirsbilck (Belgacom) and Wouter Branger (T-Mobile), two highly recognized figures in the IT security flield in Europe, were voted onto its board of directors. The move bolsters the firm's strategic planning and broaden Scanit's areas of expertise within the security realm.