CSA Releases Cloud Controls Matrix 1.1

PRESS RELEASE

Orlando, FL – December 17, 2010 – The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) today announced the launch of revision 1.1 of the CCM Security Controls Matrix. The matrix is now available for free download at: http://www.cloudsecurityalliance.org/cm.html

The Cloud Security Alliance Cloud Controls Matrix (CCM); as part of the CSA GRC Stack, is specifically designed to provide fundamental security principles to guide cloud vendors and to assist prospective cloud customers in assessing the overall security risk of a cloud provider. The CSA CCM provides a controls framework that gives a detailed understanding of security concepts and principles that are aligned to the Cloud Security Alliance’s 13 domains. The foundations of the CSA CCM rest on its customized relationship to other industry-accepted security standards, regulations, and controls frameworks such as ISO 27001/27002, ISACA COBIT, PCI, and NIST. As a framework, the CSA CCM provides organizations with the needed structure, detail and clarity relating to information security tailored to the cloud industry. The CSA CCM strengthens existing information security control environments by emphasizing business information security control requirements, reduces and identifies consistent security threats and vulnerabilities in the cloud, provides standardize security and operational risk management, and seeks to normalize security expectations, cloud taxonomy and terminology, and security measures implemented in the cloud.

In support of the CSA CCM, John DiMaria, president of Holistic Information Security Practitioner Institute (HISPI) said, “We are proud to be associated with and have contributed to the integrity of the CSA Cloud Controls Matrix. HISPI is recognized as a leader through its introduction of a visionary, next generation line of thinking. HISPI’s overall objectives include researching and developing an integrated system for widely accepted best practice frameworks that are applicable to Information Security such as ISO/IEC 27002, ISO/IEC 27001, COBIT, COSO, ISO/IEC 20000 (ITIL), NIST Guidelines, FIPS 200 (NIST 800-53).” DiMaria went on to say, “Our mapping experts and volunteers were happy to deliver the final quality checks and feedback that we feel raises the level of confidence and ultimately the acceptance of the CSA controls matrix.”

Phil Agcaoili, Cloud Security Alliance Cloud Controls Matrix co-founder and steering committee co-chair, added, “I continue to be amazed at the unprecedented level of collaboration and cooperation among the global security community and continue to be very pleased with the industry support to quickly and efficiently produce results. The Holistic Information Security Practitioner Institute (HISPI) and its community answered the call to support the Cloud security industry and delivered very rapidly to meet the demands of the global economy.”

About Cloud Security Alliance

The Cloud Security Alliance is a not-for-profit organization with a mission to promote the use of best practices for providing security assurance within Cloud Computing, and to provide education on the uses of Cloud Computing to help secure all other forms of computing. The Cloud Security Alliance is led by a broad coalition of industry practitioners, corporations, associations and other key stakeholders. For further information, the Cloud Security Alliance Web site is www.cloudsecurityalliance.org.

Contact

Zenobia Godschalk, [email protected] , PH: 650-269-8315

About The HISPI:

Headquartered in Lithonia, GA, the Holistic Information Security Practitioner Institute (HISPI) is an independent certification organization consisting of volunteers that are true information security practitioners, such as Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs), Information Security Officers (ISOs), Information Security Managers, Directors of Information Security, Security Analysts, Security Engineers and Technology Risk Managers from major corporations and organizations.

One of the main objectives of the HISPI is to promote cost-effective training and certification to information security, audit and compliance professionals, particularly Public Sector and Higher Education employees, where budget constraints can be a barrier to obtaining such quality training and certification.

Membership to the HISP Institute is currently open to anyone who is interested in achieving their organizational objectives through improving the efficiency of the organization's internal controls and security processes, as well as adopting a holistic approach to information security management. Because the certification effectively blends technology, processes and people to meet company goals, the professional is often considered to be a hybrid Information Security professional with a balance of technical and business skills. This indicates the HISP certified individual can function effectively in the capacity of a CISO, CCO, CRO, Risk Manager, Security Manager or Audit Manager.

For additional information on the HISPI and the benefits of membership, please visit the HISPI website at http://www.hispi.org or call 888-247-4858.