Subscribe to our e-mail newsletters
For more info on a specific newsletter, click the title. Details will be displayed in a new window.
Finance
Security
Computerworld Daily News (First Look and Wrap-Up)
Computerworld Blogs Newsletter
The Weekly Top 10
More E-Mail Newsletters 
Computerworld 2007Subscribe to Computerworld
40 years of the most authoritative source of news and information for IT leaders.

Group Crafts Standards for Evaluating Outsourcers

Jaikumar Vijayan   Today’s Top Stories    or  Other Security Stories  
 

Sign up to receive Security Resource Alerts

February 06, 2006 (Computerworld) -- Six large U.S. banks, an industry group and four major accounting firms joined forces in early 2004 to create standards for assessing the security practices of outsourcing vendors that work with financial services firms.
The goal was to create consistent standards for use in evaluating the controls that outsourcing vendors use to protect sensitive data, said Faith Boettger, a senior consultant at BITS, the technology arm of the Washington-based Financial Services Roundtable.
The standards are now available to the financial services community, following a trial of the program undertaken by five service providers, including IBM, Acxiom Corp. and First Data Corp.
The standards program, called the Financial Institution Shared Assessments Program, was developed by BITS, Bank of America Corp., The Bank of New York Co., Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., U.S. Bancorp and Wells Fargo & Co. Accounting firms Deloitte & Touche LLP, KPMG International, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young International serve as technical advisers for the program.
The guidelines can be used to evaluate an outsourcer's controls for access, asset classification, personnel security, physical and environmental security, communications, business continuity and regulatory compliance, Boettger said.
The group expects that the standards will result in improved security and risk-management practices, she said. The program will also give auditing firms standard criteria for measuring the security practices of different service providers, she added.
"BITS member companies have for a long time been focused on looking at the management of risk within outsourcing relationships," Boettger said. The new programs should help such companies better meet their regulatory and risk management requirements, she explained.
Joe Duffy, lead managing partner for the performance improvement practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said the initiative is an example of the private sector coming together to address information security issues at a time of heightened regulatory oversight.
"What is groundbreaking here is the fact that industry, the accounting profession and the supplier community are coming together and agreeing" on common assessment standards, Duffy said.




Print this Story Send Us Feedback E-mail this Story Digg! Digg this Story Slashdot this Story
"You see, this is why we love our Macs. I had a good chuckle when I read..." Read more...
"Dear me. Just because I recently talked about Windows XP SP3's virtues and vices, some people seem to think I've..." Read more...
Read more Security posts or See all Blogs
Security researcher devises rootkit for Cisco's routers
FAQ: Windows XP SP3 reboot hell (and how to get out of it)
WiMax vs. Long Term Evolution: Let the battle begin
More top stories...
Developers target XP over Vista by wide margin
Phishing botnet expands by hacking legit sites
HP-EDS deal spurs range of customer reactions
Specialists have retrieved about 99% of the data on a disk drive on board the crashed space shuttle Columbia. Don't miss the photographs of the recovered drive.
These big ideas were supposed to revolutionize technology, but they never actually appeared. In a few cases, you'll be glad they didn't.
Nearly 20 years after the first Internet worm, Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols takes stock of the malware/anti-malware landscape and spotlights how the two sides are approaching the battle.
Though some thought it was released too soon, Mac OS X 10.5 has matured into a solid operating system, says reviewer Michael DeAgonia.
Reviews, analyses, how-tos, visual tours, hot issues and predictions about Microsoft's new OS.
Four years from now, the IT field will be a vastly different place. Will you be ready?
All Zones
Application Performance Zone
Enterprise-Class Security Zone
Enterprise Solutions Zone
The File Data Management Zone
Grid Computing on Windows Zone
Security Management Zone
ITIL Best Practices Zone
The SAS Zone
Storage Virtualization Zone
The Data Center Management Zone

Ads by TechWords

See your link here
Long Tail Supplier Collaboration - What's In It For You?
Long Tail Supplier Collaboration - What's In It For You?
Download this webcast, free, compliments of Sterling Commerce
Go to the webcast 
Computerworld Executive Bulletin: Building a Robust Antivirus Defense
Download this Executive Bulletin (a $49.95 value) for free, compliments of MessageLabs.
(Source: MessageLabs) Antivirus software alone isn't enough to prevent today's speedy, sophisticated virus attacks. Security managers should consider multitiered approaches that include behavior scanning, appliances that check e-mail for worms, and restricting user access to dangerous Web sites. Download this Executive Bulletin (a $49.95 value) for free, compliments of MessageLabs, to learn more.
Download this executive briefing download
Eliminate SPAM, Gain Productivity
Get this white paper now!
(Source: MessageLabs) Learn all about the dangers and the costs of spam in all its forms - from stock-touting to spreadsheet. Also, understand the drawbacks of traditional hardware- and software-based defenses - and the unique benefits of MessageLabs multi-layered, managed Anti-Spam solution; as illustrated by a real-world case study where MessageLabs stopped spam cold.
Download this white paper go
White Papers
Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services.
Web Security SaaS: The Next Generation of Web Security
PRIMEQUEST Overview
New Fujitsu High-End Itanium Windows- and Linux-Based PRIMEQUEST Servers Offer the Utmost in High Availability
View more whitepapers 
Layered Security Solutions
Although basic network security issues have changed very little over the past decade, the network security landscape has changed dramatically. Today's IT professionals still have the primary responsibility of protecting the confidentiality of corporate information, preventing unauthorized access, and defending the network against attacks. Security experts and analysts agree that a security solution comprised of multiple layers is the best defense against today's increasingly sophisticated attacks.

Download this white paper 
Universal Threat Management - Because Conventional UTM is Not Enough!
This white paper, written by Mark Bouchard of Missing Link Security Services, examines the challenges confronting today's enterprises with respect to managing threats on a network. It also discusses the need for "Universal Threat Management", which is a security solution approach for all physical locations within an enterprise that require threat protection.

Download this white paper 
Selecting the Right Threat Management Solution
This short demo will guide you through key considerations for selecting a solution to manage threats on a network. Learn about the popularity of Unified Threat Management (UTM), and how it fits into an overall security solution. Explore critical elements of a network-wide solution for multisite and large network-size deployments and identify the four key features of a threat management solution.

View this demo