September 25, 2007 – (HOSTSEARCH.COM) – The data centre of Australian web hosting provider Macquarie Hosting (www.macquarietelecom.com/hosting/default.htm) has achieved the Australian Defense Signals Directorate’s (DSD) highest level of accreditation, it was announced today. The ‘Full Accreditation’ of the company’s “Intellicentre” reinforces its position as the most highly certified data centre in Australia.
“The level of accreditation the team has achieved with this audit is fantastic,” explained Macquarie Telecom’s Managing Director, Hosting, Mr. Aidan Tudehope. “It’s testament to Macquarie Hosting’s commitment to providing our Government and enterprise customers with the highest level of assurance that their hosted databases, networks and operating systems meet best-practice standards for gateway protection.”
DSD Gateway Full Accreditation is an independent assessment requiring a three-stage certification process and annual external audits to ensure ongoing compliance. Recognized as a “rigorous standard to achieve and maintain”, the accreditation recognizes Macquarie Hosting’s Intellicentre Gateway meets a range of diverse requirement criteria. This include Government Physical Security Manual (PSM) requirements pertaining to design and operation; Gateway Certification Guide standards regarding appropriate risk management strategies and countermeasures for effective gateway operation, and “Australian Communications Security Instruction Number 33 (ASCII 33) standards related to the handling of Commonwealth data”.
Achieving DSD accreditation assures Macquarie Hosting’s Government and enterprise customers that the data centre Secure Gateway “provides protection from external threats” and is appropriate for systems and data up to and including the “Highly Protected” level of classification. The accreditation supersedes Macquarie Hosting’s previous ‘provisional’ accreditation and builds on its existing ISO 27001 ISMS certification.
