Nextgen trains 15 ISO 27001 lead auditors

NextGen Technologies has successfully conducted its second batch of IRCA accredited ISO 27001 lead auditor training programmes, in association with Bureau Veritas, a French certification agency with operations in 145 countries globally.

In this second programme, in the South African region, nine South African nationals were certified. NextGen has trained 15 ISO 27001 lead auditors in total in South Africa since the first programme held in October 2006.

NextGen's security consulting arm, which focuses on technical, risk and compliance services, has become a pioneer in introducing top of the line information security training programmes in South Africa.

NextGen has also certified more than 10 information security professionals from South Africa on Certified Vulnerability Assessor (cVa) from DNV, a Norway-based certification agency in association with Secure Matrix, and will be training more professionals in the industry.

"NextGen's ISO 27001 lead auditor training programme has been attended by senior professionals in information security from organisations like Dimension Data, Cell C, Absa, IBM, GSSC, apart from other government departments in South Africa, and these professionals are our ambassadors of 'quality' to the industry," said Sumit Garg, Head of Business Development, NextGen and SANS Stay Sharp Instructor.

ISO 27001 lead auditor training programme at NextGen uses a mixture of taught sessions, interactive group discussions, exercises, continuous assessment and examination to achieve its aims. The practical exercises are based on the procedures, work instructions and data that are typical and could relate to many different enterprises equally. The practical exercises have been carefully designed to focus upon issues that commonly arise during information security audits.

"It is good to see that professionals from the government are interested in these kind of trainings, and with them successfully completing the programmes, I am sure they will add more value in terms of security process improvements in their own organisations. Out of the three auditors listed on IRCA in the region of South Africa, two are trained through us, and we are hoping that other professionals who passed the training programme will also register their names in the IRCA register under ISMS Auditor category," said Garg.

NextGen focuses on managerial and techno-managerial training programmes in the Infosec arena. Some of the training programmes which have been well-received by the leading companies in South Africa are:

1. IRCA ISO 27001 lead auditor
2. Certified vulnerability assessor (cVa) from DNV
3. ISO 20000 - IT service management consultant
4. SANS computer and network security training
5. Security awareness training

The cost of the trainings offered by NextGen are well below what the individuals or companies have to pay if they are attending these kind of programmes elsewhere, and with the involvement of international trainers, NextGen has been able to bring in the global experience which the trainers can share with the delegates during a training programme.

"The feedback from senior information security professionals who have attended our programmes in South Africa has been excellent, and we are striving to keep the standards high in the industry," said Garg.

The next training programme is scheduled in September 2007 and professionals can get in touch with NextGen Technologies for more information.