Public Relations

Asgent Announces Release of M@gicPolicy CoSMO and QUICK, ISMS Development and Management Streamlining Tools

- Industry-first products make PDCA cycle a reality -

April 21, 2004
Asgent,Inc.
(OTC No. 4288)

Asgent, Inc. (President & C.E.O.: Takahiro (Shuji) Sugimoto, Located in Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo), a pioneer in security solutions, announces the start of sales in May of "M@gicPolicy CoSMO" (CoSMO: Corporate Security Management Operator) and "M@gicPolicy QUICK", two products designed to aid in the streamlining of ISMS (Information Security Management System) development and management for end-users.

Damage caused by information security incidents such as system failures, illegal access and leaking of personal information is occurring more and more frequently. As a result, corporations need to develop an Information Security Management System (ISMS) that incorporates a security policy based on personnel, technical and physical aspects in order to protect valuable information resources from risk.

The term ISMS refers to a system of corporate management whereby essential security levels are set based on risk assessment and resources are allocated and managed according to an organized security plan. The fundamental concept behind ISMS is to maintain a balance between and improve upon confidentiality, integrity and availability of protected corporate information resources.

In order for ISMS to function effectively, it is necessary to create a security policy and apply the PDCA (Plan based on security policy > Do > Check > Act) management cycle. However, putting ISMS in place does not mean that security is completely failsafe, as changes in corporate strategy or society and security incidents require that constant revision, modification and improvements be made to corporate security policies. Also, too much emphasis has been placed on certification, with inspections (Check) and improvements (Act) not being carried out effectively. There has even been demand from certified corporations for tools to enable effective control of PDCA cycles such as managing internal security policies.

With these concerns in mind, Asgent announces the start of sales of "M@gicPolicy CoSMO" and "M@gicPolicy QUICK", tools designed to formulate security policies for organizations and allow application of PDCA management cycles between top management, information security committee members and employees.

[M@gicPolicy QUICK]

"M@gicPolicy QUICK" uses templates to formulate corporate security policies and checks to ensure that corporate management is based upon them. Security management can begin in just 30 minutes of installation. Committee members and employees can view the security policy with a browser while top management can check policy management status in the same way that they look at financial statements. It is also very easy to make the transition to "M@gicPolicy CoSMO".

[M@gicPolicy CoSMO]

"M@gicPolicy CoSMO" is a professional tool for certified companies and companies looking to be certified. In addition to functions present in "M@gicPolicy QUICK", "CoSMO" also contains functions such as Web-based employee education program, risk assessment as wells as document development control and management functions. In order to achieve these functions, individual elements in "M@gicPolicy CoSMO" text are made into objects, ensuring logical consistency and scalability. The education program promotes raising security awareness by setting questions based on the information security management system that is being developed and managed, and measuring effectiveness by the responses given.