The e-commerce minister, Stephen Timms, has urged businesses to
rise to the challenge of e-commerce by adopting new internationally
agreed guidelines on information security.
"The development of e-commerce, one of the keys to the future of
our economy, has without question been held back by doubts about
security," Timms told an audience of IT professionals yesterday (5
September).
The guidelines, developed by the Organisation of Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD), present companies with eight
high-level principles designed to make IT and Internet systems more
secure.
Timms said: "The guidelines are based on the idea that there should
be a culture of security, that security considerations should be
built-in from the outset to every aspect of our online
experience."
The guidelines highlight the need for businesses to make proper
risk assessments of the threats they are facing before spending
money on IT protection systems.
They also call on businesses to review and update their security
policies and practices continually, in the light of changing
business needs and changing threats to their systems.
"We all share responsibility for security. It's not someone else's
problem. If you are connected, you are responsible for conducting
yourself in a way which ensures that you do not damage the
interests of others," Timms added.
The e-commerce minister's comments came as the British Standards
Institute unveiled an updated version of the information security
management system, BS7799 Part 2. The new standard is designed to
provide businesses with a means to comply with the OECD
guidelines.
Related
article:
British Standards Institute updates BS7799 security
>>