Certified Digital Security (CDS) will unveil its breakthrough Version 3 data security standards at next week’s Infosecurity Europe, stand K50, offering organisations an even more comprehensive structured approach to ensuring digital asset protection.

The Version 3 guidelines provide organisations with much more detailed information on how certification can be achieved incrementally at a rate to suit all budgets, while still following the same fundamental objective requirements as its Version 1 and 2 predecessors.


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By becoming CDS approved, organisations and the contractors they work with can feel reassured that they have the necessary security processes and policies in place to protect them from the consequences of data breaches and risks of fraud and theft.

Developed by information security specialists with over 15 years’ experience – which included devising best practice digital security standards for the US Content Delivery and Storage Association (CDSA) – the latest CDS Version 3 guidelines are designed to suit everyone from non-technical executives through to IT consultants and auditors.

It makes bringing data security to an organisation easier than ever before, outlining everything that needs to be implemented before being verified by an independent CDS approved auditor.

The key elements of the new guidelines are that they do not just outline what is needed but go further by explaining how different levels can be achieved and what evidence is needed to avoid potential failure.

Standard Levels 1 to 3 and Enhanced Levels 4 to 6 are available in Version 3 with Advanced Levels 7 to 9, which are more difficult to address objectively, set to be launched later this year.

CDS Managing Director Steve Armstrong said: “We’re very excited about Version 3 as we’ve spent a great deal of time ensuring it will work for everyone to help them understand what is required to be awarded with a recognised industry accreditation.

“Our aim from the very beginning has been to make the implementation of data security as simple as possible for small organisations as well as for large multinationals. Information security is a key part of business and should form part of an organisation’s business strategy, influencing how they operate and plan for the future.

“While our initial certification guidelines made data security implementation more manageable and accessible for those without in-house technical expertise, it did not offer the body of information now available through the new documentation online for each level.”

CDS is the only company throughout Europe that provides such an industry neutral and objective security certification system, which members sign up to annually for as little as £3.50 per day.

The CDS levels cover security must-haves such as antivirus protection and control of digital assets, which without the right policies and systems in place could easily be ineffective or misused, through to more complex system configurations.

All requirements needed to meet the lower CDS standards are easily accessible online for free so organisations can move at their own pace using internal or external resources.

To find out more about the latest Version 3 CDS standards visit the CDS team on stand K50 at the show.

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