Center For Internet Security Releases Security Benchmark For Sybase ASE

Network Security Mechanisms

Database Resource Permissions

Auditing, Logging and Reporting Mechanisms

Extensibility Mechanisms

Host and Network Deployment

"Customers in demanding verticals such as Capital Markets, Government, Telecommunications and Healthcare rely on Sybase to balance performance and usability with security requirements that are often non-negotiable," said Peter Thawley, Senior Director, Architect, CTO Group, WMO for Sybase. "Sybase continues to be committed to driving database innovation while maintaining the highest levels of security. We are pleased to collaborate with CIS in its security configuration benchmark and help the Sybase user group community maintain the integrity and privacy of mission critical data."

The guide was created using a consensus review process comprised of volunteer and contract subject matter experts. Consensus participants provide perspective from a diverse set of backgrounds including consulting, software development, audit and compliance, security research, operations, government, and legal. Because they are user-driven, CIS benchmarks are widely accepted and adopted in government, business, industry and academia as the basis for enterprise system and network configuration policies.

"We are very excited about the benchmark for Sybase ASE as it addresses a significant need in the market and exemplifies the great things a community of users, vendors, and subject matter experts can accomplish through consensus collaboration," said Blake Frantz, Chief Technology Officer, the Center for Internet Security.

By using the benchmarks, security professionals save tens of thousands of dollars in developing custom policies and avoid reinventing the wheel. Further, they enable compliance with the configuration requirements of standards such as PCI and ISO, and regulations such as FISMA, GLBA, HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley.

CIS Addresses Critical Security Themes in Q4 2009

CIS now maintains 46 benchmarks for operating systems, middleware, devices and software applications and distributes them free of charge from its web site.

Additional CIS benchmarks are expected to be released in the fourth quarter of 2009, enhancing security for these important software categories:

Virtualization Benchmarks: VMWare ESX Server 3.5

UNIX Benchmarks: HP-UX 11i v3 and IBM AIX 5.1-6.3

Database Benchmarks: IBM DB2 for Linux/Unix/Windows (LUW)

Microsoft Windows Benchmarks: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008

Browser Benchmarks: Internet Explorer 7 and 8, Firefox 3.5, Opera 10 and Safari 4

CIS Encourages Collaboration Among Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)

CIS also announced today that it invites Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to contribute to the consensus standards. A new CIS online collaboration platform streamlines the consensus process, making it easy for SMEs to share their expertise. In turn, SMEs' knowledge and interactions will help expand the reach and relevance of CIS benchmarks. Participating SMEs will become part of the CIS community and gain access to pre-release versions of CIS benchmarks, earn Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits toward maintaining industry certifications, and learn from other experts in their field.

Individuals interested in participating in the consensus efforts can contact: [email protected].

Acknowledgements

CIS extends its gratitude to John Heasman, author of the Security Configuration Benchmark for Sybase ASE 15.0, as well as to these other key contributors and reviewers: Barbara Banks, Sybase, Inc.; Rajnish K. Chitkara, Sybase, Inc.; Rebecca Heffel, University of Washington; Mike de Libero, MDE Development, LLC; Vivek Kandiyanallur, Sybase, Inc.; Alan Madsen, Sybase, Inc.; Christian Monberg, Hornall Anderson, Inc.; and Chad Thunberg, Leviathan Security Group, Inc.

About CIS

The Center for Internet Security (CIS) is a non-profit organization that helps enterprises reduce the risk of business and e-commerce disruptions resulting from inadequate technical security controls, and provides enterprises with resources for measuring information security status and making rational security investment decisions. CIS develops and distributes consensus-based benchmarks for secure configuration of operating systems, software applications and network devices. The consensus security configuration benchmarks are downloaded more than one million times a year, and are globally accepted as user-originated, de facto standards. More than 150 leading corporations, government entities, universities and security organizations are CIS members. For more information, visit www.cisecurity.org.

Sybase and Adaptive Server Enterprise are registered trademarks of Sybase, Inc. All other company and product names mentioned may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.

Contacts

Media: Kesselring Communications Leslie Kesselring, 503-358-1012 [email protected]