"Sapphire's input provides me with an additional source of impartial, practical, advice and guidance..."
Steve Marshall,
Head of Security Architecture, Barclaycard
> more

Certifications

To maintain the integrity of the organisation and provide assurance to their clients Sapphire is certified to several industry standards demonstrating a practical approach to industry best practice.

Sapphire has gained certification from the Communications Electronics Security Group (CESG) to provide network security consultancy to government departments wishing to connect to the Government Secure Intranet through the CLAS scheme.

CLAS is the CESG Listed Adviser Scheme of which Sapphire have been members of since its inception. The Scheme creates a pool of high quality consultants approved by CESG to provide Information Assurance advice to government departments and other organisations who provide vital services for the United Kingdom. CLAS consultants are approved to provide Information Assurance advice on systems processing protectively marked information up to, and including, SECRET.

The organisation is also a member of the CESG CHECK scheme. The IT Health Check Service, or CHECK, was developed by CESG to enhance the availability and quality of the IT health check services that are provided to government in line with HMG policy.

Sapphire is measured against the high standards set by CESG. Therefore, HMG and CNI customers can be assured that they will receive a high quality service if the work is carried out under the Terms & Conditions of CHECK.

In February, 2006, Sapphire became one of the first organisations in Europe to certify to ISO / IEC 27001, the international standard for Information Security Management. This certification confirms that Sapphire has met stringent criteria in the operation of it's Information Security Management System and is able to verify it's position with an external auditor.

ISO / IEC 27001 is the most recent certification that Sapphire has achieved. The process began in February 2003 with the forensics laboratory achieving BS7799-2 certification. To date, Sapphire's laboratory remains the only certified computer forensics laboratory in the UK.

The organisation is also proud to be a Microsoft Certified Partner with security competency. One of a handful in the UK. To attain Microsoft Security Competency Sapphire has demonstrated a proven proficiency in using Microsoft technologies to provide security solutions in Security Management and Infrastructure Security.

As well as subscribing to the more established information assurance schemes Sapphire has a vested interest in newly formed user groups and is pleased to be a founder member of the IISP (Institute of Information Security Professionals). The IISP is an independent, non-profit body governed by its members. One of its main roles will be ensuring standards of professionalism for individuals, courses, qualifications and operating practices.

The principal objective of the Institute of Information Security Professionals is to advance the professionalism of information security practitioners and thereby the professionalism of the industry as a whole. By the year 2010 the Institute aims to provide a universally accepted focal point for the information security profession.

One of its main activities is to act as an accreditation authority for the industry, and Membership and Fellowship of the Institute will be the internationally accepted gold standard for information security professionals.

Sapphire is a corporate founder member of The Institute of Information Security Professionals (IISP) along with organisations such as Accenture, Barclays Bank, BP, BT, The Bank of England, CESG, Deloitte, Ernst and Young, Halifax Bank of Scotland, PWC, KPMG, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Chartered and Vodafone.

Sapphire also works with industry groups such as the NEFF (North East Fraud Forum) and local Business Links in the promotion and development of information security within all types of organisations.

Please click a logo to view further information on our certifications.

Computer Forensics	ISO27001
Penetration Testing	Remote Access