Cape Town, 05 Apr 2005
Microsoft SA has joined the Gatekeeper Test, a competition that challenges IT professionals on their knowledge of IT security.
It joins 19 other countries in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.
However, not all participants are entirely convinced of the broader industry benefits, with one local competitor saying it looks far too "Microsoft-centric", rather than industry knowledge-based.
According to Microsoft SA, this is the first time this country will enter the online competition, which has been running in the Netherlands for the past two years.
"The general understanding that technology alone will not make the Internet safer means that awareness and education play key roles in driving technology security," says Colin Erasmus, technology manager for Microsoft SA.
Karel Rode, one of the founders of industry body Security Special Interest Group, says a competition such as this is good in that it raises the profile of computer security from being seen as an associate discipline, to an essential IT industry career path.
However, Rode has reservations about such a competition if it is too company product-specific.
"Indeed, the Gatekeeper Test will be interesting and I for one will be taking part, either to do well and score big, or to find out how much of the questions are Microsoft-centric, ie a test where Microsoft helps its professionals gain knowledge, or prove knowledge of the Microsoft solutions, that often does not attract high scores in the security stakes with default settings that offer minimal or no additional security," he says.
"But after looking at the Gatekeeper Test site preparation kit, I fear the worst. It will be a Microsoft product-centric affair. Good to prove your value to the world as a Microsoft tech, but not something like the CISSP [Certified Information Systems Security Professional - the worldwide qualification set in the US] test that stretches the individual to show a broad knowledge in the 10 domains of the common body of knowledge."
Microsoft says that in the past year the software company has trained over 600 000 IT professionals and developers across the globe on security best practices by way of security summits, Webcasts, security workshops, online security guidance and its Security Guidance Kit. Some 180 000 of those professionals are in EMEA region.
"On a local level, we have reached more than 15 000 IT professionals and developers with security basics," says Erasmus, "and with the Gatekeeper Test we hope to raise security awareness further and reach more than 80% of the tech community."
The Gatekeeper Test will be held on Microsoft Web sites in participating countries and registration is under way. The competition begins on 2 May and finishes two weeks later, on 14 May. The winners will be announced on 25 May, when the title of Gatekeeper Champion 2005 will be awarded to the highest scoring individual overall.
The Gatekeeper Champion will win a VIP trip to Microsoft Tech-Ed 2005 in Amsterdam. The highest scoring individual from each country will receive either a Windows XP Tablet PC or a Microsoft Windows Media Center.
To find out more information or register for the Gatekeeper Test, visit http://www.gatekeepertest.com.
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