PISCATAWAY, NJ--(Marketwired - Apr 12, 2016) - The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has joined TagVault.org as a board member. DHS is partnering with TagVault to promote adoption of the SWID tag standard, and to clarify and refine guidance on the implementation and use of SWID tags on public and private sector systems. This allows DHS to be engaged with commercial providers such as Microsoft, IBM and Symantec to determine how TagVault.org can best support the wider software community in its efforts to evangelize Software Identification (SWID) tags.
DHS joined the TagVault.org board to ensure that all organizations in the software market have equal access to the various tools, technology and documentation created by TagVault.org as well as to drive interoperability between software publishers and tool providers around the SWID tagging standard. SWID tags are critical to cybersecurity automation efforts, and as a board member, DHS has the ability to ensure the implementation of SWID tags meets the mutually supportive goals of automation for both software licensing and cybersecurity requirements.
Steve Klos, TagVault.org Executive Director, said, "It's fantastic to see the US Government actively participating in the TagVault.org Alliance as the organization provides benefits to any producer or consumer of software and includes additional security related data that can be used by the US Government, or by software consumers. Additionally, more software vendors are providing SWID tags today and it's extremely encouraging to see the US Government stepping up to ensure that there is equal and uninhibited access to information for all organizations when it comes to providing critical data such as SWID tags which can be used to significantly lower costs and more completely automate security management systems."
If broadly implemented by software providers, SWID tags promise to significantly enhance the ability of government departments and agencies to rapidly and accurately characterize the software assets discovered within their enterprise networks. This will facilitate efforts to reduce vulnerabilities in information technology systems and prevent future attacks. In addition to their value for cybersecurity, SWID tags will also help government departments and agencies improve their ability to track and manage software licenses, thereby reducing cost and increasing efficiency.
TagVault.org is a non-profit Federation Member Program of IEEE-ISTO and publishes its bylaws for public access. Organizations interested in joining TagVault.org can download the membership packet from www.tagvault.org.
About TagVault.org
TagVault.org is a certification authority for software identification tags based on the ISO/IEC 19770-2 standard. TagVault.org provides a shared library of software tools, technical knowledge and communications forums that decrease the costs of creating, managing and using software identification tags.