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SIGNING OF GOVERNMENT SECURITY PROGRAMME
AGREEMENT WITH MICROSOFT Cabinet Office today (31 January 2003) announced that Andrew Pinder has signed the Government Security Programme agreement with Microsoft, in his role as Central Sponsor for Information Assurance (CSIA). The Government Security Programme is being rolled-out by Microsoft to national governments. The UK is the third agreement to be announced, NATO & Russia were announced earlier this month. As signatories to this agreement, HMG will reap the benefits of greater visibility of the security design and also opportunities to influence future products, thus ensuring they better meet the security needs identified by HMG. Andrew Pinder, Central Sponsor for Information Assurance, said: "Partnership agreements such as the one I have signed today with Microsoft are key to the risk management of the National Information Infrastructure. By allowing us access to their source-code we will be using the knowledge gained, together with the rest of our experience, to make sure that a greater range of products meet the UK government's information assurance needs. "In my role as Central Sponsor I will now be starting a dialogue with other vendors in the software industry to ascertain whether we can reach similar agreements, I look forward to working with them and Microsoft to further develop this constructive way of working together." Craig Mundie, Chief Technology Officer senior vice president for advanced strategies and policy at Microsoft said:
The role of the Central Sponsor The Cabinet Secretary has asked Andrew Pinder to take on the role of Central Sponsor for Information Assurance, alongside his role as e-Envoy. This acknowledges that Information Assurance is both a business enabler and is needed across government and the wider economy. The Central Sponsor has set up a new unit in the Cabinet Office to support him in his role - the CSIA (Central Sponsor for Information Assurance). The unit brings together IT security expertise from across government. The CSIA will provide a central focus for Information Assurance within the UK government. It will be working with the public and private sectors to ensure that risks to the National Information Infrastructure are appropriately managed. The Cabinet Office has overall responsibility for government security policy. It authorises and promulgates policy based on advice from CESG and other government departments. CESG is the government's national technical authority for Information Assurance. Information Assurance is vital to both
the government and business. Those who directly and indirectly rely
on information systems need to be confident that the systems function
as expected, are available when needed and are under the control
of the right people.
Cabinet Office Press Office, 70 Whitehall,
LONDON, SW1A 2AS
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