Security assessment services provider accreditation to ODP, NSS

Muscat: The Ministry of Technology and Communications (MTC) has just issued accreditation certifications to two companies for delivering security assessment services as part of the MTC's Accreditation Programme for IT Service Providers.
More companies are expected to be added to the list to receive the exclusivity of providing their accredited services to the government administrative units.
In this regard, the Ministry accredited Oman Data Park and the National Security Services Group as two accredited companies providing security assessment services in the Sultanate.
The National Security Services Group was established in 2016 and concerned with providing specialized services, solutions and products in the field of cybersecurity to the government and private sectors.
Among its services are security assessment and testing of attacks, protection and electronic defense, research and development, development of governance and compliance policies, security operations and a rapid response centre.
Oman Data Park was established in 2012 and owns 3 data centres under the third level in Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM), Al Wuttiya and Duqm, through which it provides hosting services, cloud services, cybersecurity services and virtual data centres.
The Accreditation Programme is a comprehensive programme established by MTC to assist in boosting the national economy. It aims to standardise and enhance the quality of delivered IT services in the Sultanate and to provide job opportunities for Omani startups.
The programme targets all IT service providers in the Sultanate who wish to provide their services to the government administrative units, including national infrastructure companies and government owned companies.
The programme was launched at the end of last year and is being implemented in phases, with each phase covering additional IT services.
The first phase of the programme focuses on service providers who are delivering security assessment and cloud and hosting services. Service providers undergo several technical and administrative assessments based on defined standards issued by MTC.