ABA, FS-ISAC, IT-ISAC and SCIPP International Offering Free Security Awareness Course in October.

Supporting National Cyber Security Awareness Month, Course Meets Annual End-User Requirements for Most Industries

VIENNA, Va. -- SCIPP International, a global non-profit organization dedicated to providing world-class security awareness certificate and certification programs for end-users and organizations, announced today it is offering its End-User Security Awareness (EUSA) Foundation course free to end-users around the world during October in support of the sixth annual National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM).

The 30-minute online course, which emphasizes internationally-recognized, generally accepted practices for end-users in most industries, is being promoted by the American Bankers Association (ABA), the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC), and the Information Technology Information Sharing and Analysis Center (IT-ISAC) to their respective members and industries.

End-users who review the free security awareness course and pass the post-assessment with a score of 70 percent or higher will be offered an opportunity to receive the SCIPP EUSA Certificate of Security Awareness. The certificate is valid for one year and can be used as evidence for auditors and regulators of meeting annual training requirements in most industries. Additional training modules are available for addressing industry-specific regulations and standards, including the FFIEC handbook, the PCI-DSS, HIPAA, FISMA, FERPA, and FERC.

"In today's environment, security awareness is everyone's responsibility and SCIPP International believes that it's vitally important that end-users understand the latest threats and the best business practices to counter those threats," said Dow A. Williamson, CISSP, CSSLP, executive director of SCIPP International. "This Certificate Program enables companies to meet their annual security awareness training requirements. We are proud to offer the Foundation Course component free to companies around the world in support of National Cyber Security Awareness Month in conjunction with our partners."

Designed with input from an international board of security experts, the SCIPP International EUSA Foundation Course offers non-technical, real-world instruction on how end-users can protect themselves and their organizations both online and off.

The course covers 10 practice areas which include the leading causes of end-user security incidents, including timely topics such as phishing, social networking, smart phones, removable mass store devices, peer-to-peer, and many other easy-to-understand solutions and best business practices. To access the course, visit http://www.scippinternational.org/CyberSecurityAwarenessMonth.html.

The SCIPP International EUSA Certificate Program consists of the EUSA Foundation Course and industry-specific modules and is currently undergoing accreditation by the American National Standards Institute against the new American National Standard, ASTM E-2659.

Organizations promoting the free security awareness course to their members during the month of October include:

* ABA, a membership organization of banks and charters representing over 95 percent of the U.S. banking industry's assets;

* FS-ISAC, a non-profit, member-owned organization dedicated to collaboration on critical security threats facing the financial services sector;

* IT-ISAC, an organization of security specialists from companies across the IT industry dedicated to identifying threats and vulnerabilities to infrastructure.

"We believe it's critical that bank employees and their customers have a better understanding of security dangers and how to protect themselves online," said Don Rhodes, director, risk management policy, ABA. "Security awareness reduces the risk of privacy breaches, and we applaud SCIPP International in its efforts to support National Cyber Security Awareness Month."

National Cyber Security Awareness Month is an initiative spear-headed by the Department of Homeland Security. In 2008, National Cyber Security Awareness Month reached more than 29 million Americans through media, middle school and high school lesson plans, and partnerships with dozens of companies and associations. In addition, the President of the United States declared support for National Cyber Security Awareness Month, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution in support of the month, and 41 state governors signed proclamations recognizing the month.

For more information on the NCSAM, visit http://www.staysafeonline.org/ncsam.

About SCIPP International

SCIPP International[TM] is a global non-profit organization dedicated to addressing information security awareness problems where they are most prevalent - at the human level. Based in Vienna, Virginia, USA, with offices in London and Hong Kong, SCIPP offers compliance and organizational risk mitigation through its world-class security awareness training programs for web application developers as well as enterprise level certification programs for end-users and consumers. All SCIPP courses are based upon the SCIPP GAP[TM] - the common body of knowledge describing SCIPP's 10 generally accepted best business practice areas vetted by an international advisory board of leading experts. More information is available at www.SCIPPinternational.org.