Macquarie Telecom receives ‘five ticks' for security standards       

Survey shows AS/NZS 7799 certification of growing importance to business and government
 

Sydney, Australia – 7 June 2005 – Macquarie Telecom has been certified by SAI Global to Information Security Management Standard AS/NZS 7799.2:2003.

The AS/NZS 7799 certification is recognised by a growing number of Australian businesses and government agencies as the benchmark for security management practices.

Last month, a survey by NetIQ of 200 security experts attending AusCERT found that AS 7799 certification influenced the IT security strategy of more than 40 per cent of respondents.

State and Federal governments have also made moves to establish AS/NZS 7799 certification as the mandatory standard for departmental security frameworks.

“IT management has been escalated to the board and chief executive level because of security issues,” said Glen Noble, General Manager Data and Hosting Solutions, Macquarie Telecom. “Corporate governance requirements and the increasing business reliance on the Internet mean the consequences are greater should there be a security breach.”

“The directive from this level down is to identify ways to mitigate risk. Certifications such as AS/NZS 7799 are one way of doing this. They provide independent verification that a supplier has the appropriate policies, processes and controls in place to protect information assets.”

“When the levels of risk are particularly high, organisations may choose to transfer that risk and outsource. This opens up opportunities for providers such as Macquarie Telecom. Third party certifications show our systems meet industry standards. This gives stakeholders assurance that their identified risks are being managed appropriately,” added Noble.

Local and international certifications meet customers' needs

AS/NZS 7799 is the Australasian equivalent of international security standard BS 7799.

Macquarie Telecom's Intellicentre was the first commercial hosting data centre in Australia to achieve BS 7799 certification and it remains one of the few organisations to have attained both the local and international version.

“Macquarie Telecom's hosting solutions span our customers' entire operations – across both local and international markets,” said Noble.

“AS/NZS 7799 is relevant for Australian and New Zealand branches. BS 7799 has international implications – it verifies we have the systems and processes in place to help organisations meet international regulatory requirements.”

According to Ross Wraight, Chief Executive, SAI Global Limited, "Macquarie Telecom's early adoption of BS 7799 demonstrated strong market leadership. The achievement of AS/NZS 7799 strengthens this and adds to the company's value proposition.”

Through certification with SAI Global Macquarie Telecom is able to display the ‘five ticks' StandardsMark – an Australian symbol that represents quality assurance and is associated with excellence, safety and rigorously tested products.

Macquarie Telecom's Intellicentre remains one of the most highly certified commercial data centres in the Asia Pacific region. Other certifications include a range of best-of-breed vendor certifications and the DSD Gateway Certification (Highly Protected) – a pre-requisite to providing secure gateway services to Commonwealth departments and agencies.

###

< Back to previous page

For more information:
Mandy Galmes
N2N Communications
02 9213 2302
agalmes@n2n.com.au

About Macquarie Telecom
Macquarie Telecom is a leading supplier of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) solutions – including voice, data, mobile and hosting – specialising in the business and government markets. The world class Intellicentre facility offers state-of-the-art hosting and security solutions. The Intellicentre is certified to BS 7799 and DSD Gateway security standards.

Macquarie Telecom provides services to more than 2,500 of the top companies in Australia and Asia, supporting more than one million business users at work every day. Founded in July 1992, it is one of Australasia's first deregulated telecommunications companies. It expanded its operation into Asia in 2000, and holds carrier licences in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong.