Hosted service from Citicus brings information risk under control quickly
UK-based Citicus Limited has launched a hosted service for Citicus ONE, its web-based, automated risk management solution that enables organisations to monitor and drive down business risk posed by their IT systems. The new outsourced service can be used to run a fast-track pilot of the Citicus ONE solution prior to an in-house implementation or can be delivered as a fully managed hosted service.
Developed with help from 15 of the world's top companies including Motorola, Standard Bank of South Africa and ST Microelectronics, Citicus ONE helps key decision makers to analyse and understand information risk and its potential cost to their businesses. This means that top management can direct critical investment and resources where they are most needed and companies can both reduce risk and demonstrate strong IT governance across the enterprise. Citicus ONE is based on the FIRM (Fundamental Information Risk Management) methodology developed by the Information Security Forum (ISF) - an independent association of some 250 major international corporations. It fully supports established security standards such as the ISF's Standard of Good Practice and ISO17799. Using easy-to-complete web-based scorecards and incident reports, Citicus ONE gathers risk data on all types of information system, including business applications, e-commerce initiatives, computer installations, and communications networks. Risk data is automatically collated, quantified and analysed to provide graphical risk status reports, league tables and statistical analyses as well as practical guidance to prioritise actions and drive risk down to an acceptable level.
The Citicus ONE product has been available since April 2002 for local installation on a company's intranet but the new hosted service allows organisations to use the full capabilities of the software without having to invest in hardware or internal support arrangements. The service is hosted in a highly secure data centre and is fully managed by Citicus, who also provide help desk support, consultancy and training.
"Boardroom concern about increasing reliance on IT systems in the face of greater threats as well as the growing impact of corporate governance initiatives such as Turnbull and Basel II is putting IT managers under a lot of pressure to better understand, quantify and manage business risk," said Simon Oxley, Managing Director, Citicus. "The new Citicus ONE hosted service delivers a simple-to-use and effective risk management solution that can be up and running and delivering results within days."
Use of the Citicus ONE hosted service is charged on a simple subscription basis related to the number of information systems that are monitored. Pricing starts at £5,000 per year.
One of the first customers of the hosted service is the Norwegian company Norsk Hydro - one of the World's largest producers of off-shore oil, aluminium and agricultural fertilisers. "Citicus ONE will enable us to focus attention quickly and accurately on driving down information risk and maximise the effectiveness of our expenditure on security controls," says Ole Johnny Dahle, Director of Information Security of Hydro IS Partner, the internal supplier of IT services at Norsk Hydro. "We've already assessed the risks of several of our key systems, and we clearly see that the reports generated by Citicus ONE will help us prioritise our security investments and activities."
For more information, contact:
Simon Oxley, Marco Kapp or Sian Alcock, Citicus Ltd
Tel: +44 (0)20 7203 8405
Email: info@citicus.com