[19 December 2005]
ISC2 and Singapore Management University announce winner of Information Security Student Excellence Award

Award punctuates year of activities honoring Information Security professionals worldwide

The International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, Inc. [(ISC) 2®], the non-profit international leader in educating and certifying information security professionals worldwide and Singapore Management University (‘SMU') today announced the winner of the Year of the Information Security Professional Student Excellence Award (‘the Award'), Mr Namasivayam Viswanathan. (ISC)² and SMU collaborated to offer the award as part of the Year of the Information Security Professional (‘YISP'), a global initiative aimed at increasing awareness of and appreciation for the information security profession and the people in it.

Mr Viswanathan, a third-year student with SMU's School of Information Systems (‘SIS') was chosen for his excellent academic performance and passion for information security. According to his course instructor Professor Robert H. Deng, Mr Viswanathan was ahead of his class in his grasp of information security knowledge by applying wireless security techniques and standards to analyze the SMU campus wireless security. “Mr Viswanathan also applied the security knowledge he learned from the a dvanced s ecurity class to the design of an innovative access control scheme in his architecture analysis class. His achievements will surely motivate other talented students and spur them to greater heights of academic excellence,” said Professor Deng.

“Information security has been one of my favourite subjects. This area of study equips me to decide what is essential and critical to ensure a secure infrastructure. I believe that this award recognizes and nurtures my interest and will certainly encourage more SMU students to pursue a career in this field,” said Mr Namasivayam Viswanathan.

The purpose of the Award is to motivate talented students and attract young entrants to the information security profession. The Award of S$1000, sponsored by (ISC)², will be paid against the student's tuition. The Award punctuates a calendar of activities around the Year of the Information Security Professional (YISP) initiative. YISP has attracted a prestigious group of more than 60 businesses, associations, academia and other organizations worldwide, including SMU, committed to creating awareness for the vital work information security professionals perform every day to secure the global information society.

Professor Steven Miller, Dean of SIS at SMU, commented, “We appreciate (ISC)²'s commitment to nurturing high-quality students along their information security career path, which is also in line with the school's mission to produce business-IT professionals. We see the demand for information security soar as the market realizes that trained, qualified people are the key to any successful information security program. At the same time, being able to pass along the torch to new talented people is critical to the future of the profession.”

Rolf Moulton, CISSP-ISSMP, president and chief executive officer (interim), (ISC)², said, “According to the second annual Global Information Security Workforce Study that IDC conducted on behalf of (ISC)² , there are more new young information security professional entrants in Asia-Pacific in 2005 than in the Americas or Europe, Middle East and Africa (‘EMEA'). We recognize the importance of attracting new talent to the profession and supporting students along their career path. To that end, we will continue to collaborate with prestige organizations like SMU to professionalize the information security workforce through education and certification.”

About (ISC)²

The International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, Inc. [(ISC) 2® ] is the premier non-profit organization dedicated to certifying information security professionals around the world. Founded in 1989, (ISC)² has certified more than 40 ,000 information security professionals in more than 100 countries. Based in Palm Harbor , Florida , USA with offices in Vienna, Virginia , USA , London , Hong Kong and Tokyo , (ISC) 2 issues the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP Ò) and Systems Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP Ò) credentials and related concentrations to those meeting necessary competency requirements. The CISSP Ò, the Gold Standard in information security certifications, is the first information technology credential to meet the stringent requirements of ANSI under ISO/IEC Standard 17024, a global benchmark for assessing and certifying personnel. (ISC)² also offers a portfolio of educational products and services based upon (ISC) 2 's CBK ® , a compendium of industry best practices for information security professionals, and is responsible for the annual (ISC)² Global Information Security Workforce Study. More information about (ISC) 2 is available at www.isc2.org.