WASHINGTON, Dec. 17, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Public Technology, Inc. (PTI) (www.pti.org) announced today that it has formed a partnership with Software By Bay (SBB) (www.softwarebybay.com), a New Jersey based software development firm specializing in business intelligence and computer security solutions. The two organizations will collaborate on the initial solution called the Web-based Information Security Education (WISE) training program.
WISE is a self-paced training course that provides training ranging from general security awareness and security management to detailed technical training.
"Antivirus software and Firewalls are not enough to protect employees from errors that can threaten a local government's IT infrastructure. The right training can help reduce exposure to the weakest link in information security: the employee," said John Bay, President and CEO of Software By Bay. "We are delighted to offer this solution to the thousands of local governments who have such a major role to play in ensuring the security and privacy of citizen information and government records and data."
The course components teach employees the proper use of organization resources like computers, email, and the Internet, trains them to identify intrusions from hackers, viruses, the hacker's improper use of social engineering, and allows the employee and his/her manager to combine their efforts in the strengthened defense of information and physical assets.
The training course will be assessed by PTI member local governments to identify any modifications or changes that might be needed to be most effective in a governmental environment.
The WISE initiative has capabilities to also aid in Homeland Security awareness and protection. As the focus of terror attacks shifts to include IT, it has become increasingly important for local governments to be able to recognize the threat and act quickly and effectively to reduce attacks that compromise IT and other infrastructures. Viruses and hackers are a constant threat to the stability of the technological systems designed to streamline local governments. Through security training and education, local government officials will be able to recognize and respond to, as well as prevent, future attacks.
"PTI's mission is to help local governments make the best use of technology and this new partnership with Software By Bay furthers that objective," said PTI President Costis Toregas. "We are constantly scanning the technology horizon to identify solutions that we believe can benefit local governments and in today's heightened threat environment technology has much to offer in helping governments to protect their information systems and assets," said Toregas.
Local governments across the country are today looking for and deploying a variety of tools to minimize the susceptibility of critical failures that could result from vulnerabilities in their computer systems. Many of the local government members of PTI are on the leading edge of experimenting with a variety of technology solutions to enhance government operations and service delivery.
Once PTI has completed its assessment of WISE, and determined its utility for public sector organizations, PTI and Software By Bay intend to promote the solution on a national level. A product demonstration CD is available and can be obtained by visiting www.pti.org.
About the Companies
Public Technology, Inc. (PTI) (www.pti.org) is a national non-profit technology research and development organization based in Washington, DC. representing local governments. PTI, established in 1971, offers a variety of technology products and services to assist local governments in addressing their technology needs. PTI's local government and industry members work together to develop and apply technology to the challenges facing communities of all sizes.
Software By Bay (SBB) (www.softwarebybay.com) is the leading provider of Security Awareness and Security Management Training Programs that helps local governments and corporations world-wide reduce the threat to information technology systems. SBB's Security Training increases the local government and corporate employee's security awareness and capacity to reduce intrusions from computer hackers, viruses and other threats to information technology systems. Government and employee awareness is key to security efforts.
More information on Software By Bay - Security Awareness is available from: http://www.softwarebybay.com/NetworkWorldFusion.asp.
NFR Media copies of the Security Training CD are available.
The Software By Bay logo is available at: http://media.primezone.com/prs/single/?pkgid=765
The Public Technologies Inc. logo is available at: http://media.primezone.com/prs/single/?pkgid=767