RSA A group of 12 security software and hardware vendors today launched the Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA) at the RSA Conference.

This new advocacy group wants to "monitor and influence legislation and government regulation at both the state and federal levels"; create education programmes; launch a public awareness program to influence opinion makers; and to work in partnership with other organisations to identify and support emerging technology standards.

CSIA intends to accomplish these goals through committees of member representatives. It has appointed Paul Kurtz, former senior director for Critical Infrastructure Protection on the White House's Homeland Security Council, as executive director.

There's no shortage of advocacy groups in computer security, but CSIA says it's the only one comprised solely of security vendors. There are plenty of big name vendors in the list, which will add to the organisation's clout.

Founding members of the not-for-profit organisation are BindView, Check Point Software, Computer Associates, Entrust, Internet Security Systems, NetScreen, Network Associates, PGP Corporation, Qualys, RSA Security, Secure Computing and Symantec.

The organisation wants to recruit new members. Charter membership costs $150,000 per annum with 'principal membership' priced at $60,000. More information on the Cyber Security Industry Alliance's structure and objectives can be found here. ®

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