South African Centre for Information Security: Leading Information Security Consulting Firm

Services to Governments

The public sector is responsible for the collection and provision of an enormous amount of data which it deals with on a daily basis. Some of this information is of an extremely sensitive and personal nature and needs to be treated with the utmost respect and confidentiality. Patient health records, social service details, tax returns all are held on information systems. Private sector organisations also handle personal data on behalf of citizens and must adhere to legislation governing the protection of that information.
As many countries in SADC develop their national ICT policy to implement ambitious e-government strategies, trust and confidence in information systems is essential to ensure uptake of these online public services that would come with e-government implementation strategies. Government department and ministries

Must ensure senior responsibility for the risks facing your information systems
Must ensure that good risk management systems and procedures are developed and maintained to ensure the confidentiality, availability and integrity of its information systems
Must encourage awareness of information security issues within your sector in order to protect your ability to deliver public services and make government systems more secure

Government agencies provide services and collect and disseminate information essential to their citizens. This also makes them a target for intelligence gathering or attacks. Security is used to ensure confidentiality, integrity and availability of people, processes and information. The use of standards across all of government provides citizens and business with confidence that government systems provide adequate security and privacy safeguards.

Government needs to ensure that the systems underpinning key public services are made as secure and resilient as possible. Government systems from the military and health to education authorities all need to be adequately protected.

As more and more government services go online, it is vital for the government to ensure that the public has trust and confidence in those services. Public sector organisations must create policies and processes to minimise risks to their information and the systems in which it is handled.

CIS has the capacity and experience to offer government specific services.

We help government departments, ministries and agencies:

To promote a culture of security through education, training and awareness-raising activities.

To eestablish a new policy or amend existing policy with regard to the protection of information
systems and networks, according to international best practices and standards

To attach great importance to the security of their information assets and set a good example

To help the organisation establish internal capacity to carry out various activities of information protection and assurance.

All our core business activities could be custmised in the context of government and public sector