Security deperimeterisation is at the heart of plans
that underpin the Cabinet Office's high-profile transformational
government programme, delegates at the Infosecurity Conference will
be told today.
Increasing demands for public sector bodies to exchange
information and share IT services will mean that traditional
approaches to security will no longer be appropriate, the Cabinet
Office's security adviser will say.
Steve Marsh, director of the Central Sponsor for Information
Assurance, said that a new security architecture would play a key
role in the transformational government plan.
"The traditional security model of having a hard perimeter to
your organisation does not work when you are trying to deliver
complex shared services across boundaries. Instead, we need an
architecture that reflects the way organisations interact," he
said.
The architecture, which is being developed by the Computer
Electronic Security Group, and the Cabinet Office's E-Government
Unit, would make it easier for government bodies to roll out
innovative IT systems, said Marsh.
"It should make it much easier and quicker for departments to
respond to their own business needs. In the past it is often
thought that the need for security has blocked departments from
implementing systems. This should give them the flexibility to meet
their business needs."
The architecture, which will be continually updated, will allow
organisations to have access to different services under different
levels of security clearance, without compromising the security of
other sensitive information.
"For the more sensitive services, we will mandate the protection
that has to be put around them," said Marsh.
Read about:Government deperimeterisation