Company directors will soon be receiving a guide to
their
legal responsibilities to protect dataand how
they can address them.
The guide will be the first tangible result of the formation of
the Information Security Awareness Forum (ISAF) this week. ISAF
chairman David King said the guide was aimed at company directors,
owners and managers of small and medium companies, consumers and
politicians and civil servants.
He said the forum aimed to unify viewpoints and messages on the
need for secure behaviour. It aimed "to reduce overlaps and fill
gaps" between the many different parties interested in information
security.
ISAF presently consists of 17 such bodies. They include the
Information Systems Security
Association, which led the forum's formation, the
British Computer Society, the
business/parliamentary group
Eurim, the
Jericho Forum and
GetSafeOnline.
He said the forum aimed to raise awareness of the need for
secure handling of personal data and secure online behaviour. The
guide, due out in April, was the first tangible result. ISAF, which
is unfunded, would also join in conferences and exhibitions, but it
was not a lobby group, King said.
He denied ISAF was the information security industry's response
to the government's dismissal of the
House of Lords science and technology select committee's call
to make going online safer.
King said the forum's overall aim was to ensure that information
security was built into digital devices and network-based services
"out of the box". Depending on priorities, ISAF will approach
suppliers organisations such as
Intellect and the
Internet Service Providers'
Association to join ISAF and give effect to this goal, he
said.
ISAF members
Information Systems Security Association
(ISC)2
British Computer Society
Communications Management Association
European Information Society Group (Eurim)
GetSafeOnline
Institution of Engineering & Technology
Infosecurity Europe
Information Assurance Advisory Council
Institute for the Management of Information Systems
Institute of Information Society Professionals
IUA Digital Risk Working Party
Jericho Forum
Security Awareness Special Interest Group
Worshipful Company of Information Technologists
Information Security Forum
Information Systems Audit and Control Association