Achieving Coco – Can local authorities meet the deadline?
Deadline for local authorities to comply with the Government Connect Secure Extranet (GCSx) Code of Connection (CoCo) is fast approaching. Many authorities are working against the clock to make the necessary IT network changes to avoid losing online connection to the GCSx.
Michael Robertson, Managing Director at information and application security company Commerce Media, says ‘no’. He believes that there are many solutions within the marketplace that can be quickly and easily deployed to enable councils to meet their targets.
“One of the main reasons why so many councils are racing to meet these deadlines is the lack of information and secrecy surrounding the government’s requirements,” says Michael. “The impact of this has been twofold; vendors have not had the opportunity to promote their products in a way that clearly illustrates how they support CoCo, and this in turn has made it difficult for security managers at local authorities to identify which products will best meet their needs cost-effectively, while offering long-term flexibility.”
As the security industry was unable to clearly educate the market, Michael acknowledges that this has resulted in the process becoming unnecessarily complex and a lot of time being wasted. One key element of CoCo is that users of a local authority system have secure remote access, which can be achieved by deploying a two-factor-authentication (2FA) solution. Michael states that this level of security is important, but can be simple to implement without carrying any heavy costs.
He continues: “Data protection lies at the heart of this scheme, and councils are dealing with confidential information all the time. We are always hearing reports of portable devices being lost, stolen or forgotten and it is great that the government is taking action, particularly as an increasing number of individuals work remotely.
Although achieving secure remote access can be complex in nature, 2FA systems which can meet this requirement need not be difficult or time-consuming to deploy. There are a number of vendors that offer simple, inexpensive, customisable products that can be set up and running within a matter of days – if not hours.”
Michael concludes: “One such solution is Commerce Media’s Celo*, and we have recently begun working with councils across the UK, setting them up to become secure remote access CoCo compliant within a very short space of time. The key message is that it is not too late for authorities that have not yet even begun the process to achieve compliance to meet the CoCo deadline.”
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