CompTIA levels up its corporate cybersecurity stamp of approval

A surefire way to attract negative attention to your business is to get caught up in the spreading wave of cybercrime that has lately tainted the image of some of the most widely recognized corporate brands in America. Frequent customers of retail titan Target, do-it-yourself empire Home Depot and sandwich shop Jimmy Johns (to name just a few) have endured at least a moment's panic in recent months at the sight or sound of breaking news about hackers stealing financial data. In the increasingly all-digital world, trust between corporation and consumer is a pricless commodity.

One means of protecting that trust, or possibly regaining it, is to earn CompTIA's Security Trustmark+, a sort of organzational certification that verifies that a business is following certain practices to ensure highest levels of digital data protection and security. On Monday, CompTIA announced that Security Trustmark+ validation has been strengthened to keep pace with evolving security best practices. That means Trustmark+ businesses will also need to upgrade their security efforts in order for their certification to continue to be recognized by CompTIA.

Security Trustmark+ is one of five organizational credentials available from CompTIA. (The others certify highest standards in IT Business, Managed Services and Managed Print. A Trustmark available exclusively to businesses in the United Kingdom, Accredit UK, certifies excellence in organisational management, company direction, business generation, service delivery and operations, and customer relations.) Security Trustmark+ requires passage of an annual security audit during which companies are evaluated in a number of key security areas.

CompTIA executve Nancy Hammervik said in a press release that customers of Security Trustmark+ companies can be confident that those organizations are serious about protecting client data. "Businesses that earn the CompTIA Security Trustmark+ have demonstrated through independent validation that they've adopted the security standards, guidelines and practices that are most effective at protecting both themselves and their clients," Hammervik said.

The Security Trustmark+ program was launched in 2008 as Security Trustmark. With the credential's evolution to Security Trustmark+, Security Trustmark (without the "+") certification will be retired effective March 31, 2015.