IT service provider awarded ISO 27001

BASF, an IT service provider, has been awarded the international standard ISO 27001, which replaces the previous internationally recognised British Standard (BS) 7799.
As one of the first companies in Europe, BASF, the IT service provider has been awarded the international standard ISO 27001. This has been confirmed by the Swiss Union for Quality and Management Systems (SQS) on 11 July 2006. The ISO 27001 Standard replaces the previous internationally recognised British Standard (BS) 7799, according to which BASF IT Services has already been certified.

Both of the standards determine how a company should handle confidential information and demand that every single member of staff adheres to the safeguarding of information.

Furthermore, the company must also be able to prove that this is implemented in the internal processes and IT systems.

With this certification, SQS certifies that BASF IT Services has a set of rules and regulations concerning information security, a so-called 'Management System', which fulfils the internationally recognised standard.

This ensures that confidential data entrusted to the company is not lost or falsified and access is denied to unauthorised persons.

Not only the security level of the facilities - for instance, entry to the data centres - but also the protection of IT systems comes under examination.

Furthermore, decisive for a successful certification is that confidential information is not left openly visible by employees and they are aware of and adhere to legal requirements.

'With this certification, we have demonstrated the high level of importance given by our company to information security,' said Wolfgang Erny, Managing Director of BASF IT Services.

'This is proof to our customer that we handle confidential data entrusted to us, very carefully.' The certification is not a single examination, the company must undergo an annual so-called 'repeat audit' to test its information security.

Every three years a completely new certification is required.

BASF IT Services: using IT to boost process efficiency - BASF IT Services, a BASF Group company, is among the leading IT service providers for the process industry in Europe.

It had some 2,300 employees and recorded an annual turnover of EUR 364 million in 2005.

The company's key strengths are industry solutions, managed infrastructure services and business process outsourcing.

This expertise is based on years of experience in providing solutions to the world's leading chemical company, BASF.

Today, BASF IT Services operates one of the world's largest networks and around 2,000 servers for some 60,000 users in more than 280 locations.

The company, which is represented throughout Europe, is committed to standardising and developing customer-orientated, tailor-made solutions.

BASF IT Services is certified under the international quality management standard ISO 9001:2000 and the ISO 27001.