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Press Release

Media Contact

Maryann Karinch
The Open Group
+1 650 726 7020

IT Security Issues, Models, and Methods Featured at The Open Group Conference

A Play/Workshop—“Saving Private Data”—Big Hit With Attendees

San Francisco, CA – February 11, 2003 – IT security strategists from governments, consortia, and industry engaged large audiences at The Open Group’s winter conference through a series of presentations and Interactive workshops that ended Friday. The conference, held in San Francisco, was entitled Boundaryless Information Flow: Keeping IT Secure.

Perspectives from US, EU, and Japan Cybersecurity Chiefs

Key government security speakers from the United States, Japan, and the European Union opened the conference by addressing the policies and issues affecting information security in their regions. In speaking for The President’s Critical Infrastructure Protection Board, Keynoter Andy Purdy stated, “Our overall strategic goal is to empower all Americans to secure their portion of cyberspace.” Purdy, who is Deputy to the Vice Chair, Senior Advisor, IT Security and Privacy, reviewed key features of The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace. Presenting “Current IT Security Status in Japan—Environment and Policies” was Kei Harada, Senior Researcher, IT Security Center, Information-technology Promotion Agency (IPA). Andrea Servida presented the European perspective in his address, “Trust and Security in the Ambient Intelligence Space.” Servida is Head of Sector, European Commission Directorate General Information Society.

IT, Security Industry Consortia Probed Issues Together

Citing ways their groups might collaborate, key executives from IT and security industry consortia focused on “Industry Strategies for Securing Boundaryless Information.” Speakers outlining strategies for implementing policies, procedures and standards to assist organizations in achieving a secure information environment were:

• Patricia Gilmore, Treasurer, System Security Certification Consortium (ISC2)
• Charles LeGrand, Assistant Vice President, Technology Practices, The Institute of Internal Auditors.
• Dr. Bill Hancock, CISSP, Chairman of the Internet Security Alliance (ISA) and the Vice President of Security and Chief Security Officer of Cable and Wireless
• Laura Lundin, Senior Director of BITS, the technology group for the Financial Services Roundtable
• “Candy” Frances Alexander, CISSP, Vice President, International Relations of the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA)
• Deb Frazer, CISSP, Global Director of APL Limited/NOL Group’s IT Audit and Consulting Services, who represented the Information Systems Audit and Control Association® (ISACA)

Interactive Workshops and Forum Events

“Saving Private Data” used drama to highlight intrusion response options after a hacker attack at the fictional StarCorp, as well as the company’s legal liabilities and remedies. The audience served as the Board of Directors, grilling the SWAT team assembled to address the company’s problem.

At a secure messaging workshop, participants got hands-on practice exchanging encrypted mail using their own client software. The model used in the Secure Messaging Implementors Workshop reflected results of the Secure Messaging Challenge, which The Boeing Company had issued to The Open Group’s Messaging Forum. The Challenge, complemented by a publicly available Secure Messaging Toolkit, demonstrated how it is possible to exchange highly encrypted email using commercially available products.

At the one-day Directory Interoperability Forum’s Identity Management Conference, leading suppliers of identity management solutions shared their deployment strategies. The conference resulted from the first year of efforts to develop a global framework for identity management. The companies describing their progress were Business Layers, Computer Associates, ePresence, IBM, Novell, and VeriSign.

The Open Group also announced certification for its Architecture Framework (TOGAF 7) during a live webcast of conference proceedings. The new certification program enables the industry’s architecture service providers and tools vendors to demonstrate how their products and services support the IT Architect using TOGAF Version 7. TOGAF 7, a detailed method and a set of supporting tools, is described in a document published by The Open Group on its public web server, and may be used freely by any organization wishing to develop an information systems architecture for use within that organization.

For copies of selected presentations, contact Maryann Karinch on 650-726-7020.

About The Open Group

The Open Group, a vendor-neutral and technology-neutral consortium, has a vision of Boundaryless Information Flow achieved through global interoperability in a secure, reliable and timely manner. The Open Group’s mission is to drive the creation of Boundaryless Information Flow by working with customers to capture, understand and address current and emerging requirements, establish policies, and share best practices; working with suppliers, consortia and standards bodies to develop consensus and facilitate interoperability, to evolve and integrate specifications and open source technologies; offering a comprehensive set of services to enhance the operational efficiency of consortia; and developing and operating the industry's premier certification service and encouraging procurement of certified products. More information on our organization can be found at www.opengroup.org.