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SGS Sets Cybersecurity Milestone with Cyberlab Opening

September 20, 2019

Geneva-based SGS and Graz University of Technology have inaugurated the SGS Cyberlab Graz, a key milestone in the Cybersecurity Campus project that will become the global standard for cybersecurity research.

Frankie Ng, CEO of SGS Group, noted that since SGS's February 2019 announcement of the multi-million euro investment in the new cyber campus, 2,500 new smart devices per second were being connected to the network.

The number of information and communications technology (ICT) devices, from the smallest component like a micro-controller to the most complex system, such as cars or vital community infrastructure (like nuclear facilities or gas pipelines), will total between 50 and 200 billion by 2025. Industries, advocacy groups, governments and consumers are all working toward a common goal to protect these devices from vulnerabilities and to certify those designed, manufactured and distributed according to a common standard of security. SGS, the world's leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company, will devote activities at the newly inaugurated Cyberlab Graz to joint research and cybersecurity testing and certification.

"At full operation, 400 people will work on testing and certification combined with research," says Sergio Lombán Lage, Vice-President, SGS Digital Trust Services. "Labs like the one in Graz, which expands the one we recently opened in Madrid, will help businesses and other organizations address new threats, helping industry and the public sector to implement sound strategies around cybersecurity."

The opening of SGS Cyberlab Graz comes during Graz Security Week, organized by the TU Graz and Silicon Alps. During the week, SGS took the opportunity to bring together industry leaders and regulators as part of the Charter of Trust Roadshow to inform and discuss on regulatory considerations. Other industry powerhouses in attendance included BSI, CCN, Siemens, IBM, Atos, NXP, and Telekom. Most noted during the regulatory discussion was the EU Cybersecurity Act, which came into effect at the end of June 2019, establishing the EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) and providing it a permanent mandate and increased scope. Specifically, the Cybersecurity Act empowers ENISA to develop and implement a European-wide cybersecurity certification framework.

Under the framework, various categories of ICT products, processes and services will be held to common security standards and common evaluation methods. Third-party certification, such as that provided by SGS at the Cyberlab Graz will not only provide stronger consumer confidence in ICT products but will also allow ICT manufacturers and service providers baseline requirements to provide a basic assurance level across Europe.

Lombán Lage says, "Businesses have had to adapt and invest to multiple frameworks in a common market. As we move toward a Europe-wide framework, which we anticipate will become the global model, those very businesses will have a common mark of trust, a clearer path to certification, and reduced risk profile."

Cyberlab Graz is only one milestone as SGS moves to establish itself as the leader in cybersecurity validation and testing. Earlier this year the company also announced a partnership with Swisscom, Vodafone and Microsoft, opening an Internet of Things Competence Center in Madrid.

"Our joint venture with Graz University of Technology and its top researchers in cybersecurity shows our leadership role continuing the successful story of our 140 years by combining excellence in research, testing and education," says Ng. "We will continue to develop cutting-edge services, and we welcome the students of the TU Graz and industry partners to learn and collaborate with us in this unique and state-of-the-art environment."

The campus will position SGS to bridge gaps between research, teaching and practice in evolving threats to cybersecurity with a clear connection to industry's real needs. SGS will provide basic research free of IP alongside degree and training programs.

For more information, please contact:

Media: Daniel Rüfenacht
Corporate Communications and Sustainability
t: +41 78 656 94 59

About the TU Graz

Cybersecurity has been a research focus at Graz University of Technology for many years. This research area is part of TU Graz's Field of Expertise "Information, Communication and Computing", one of the university's five strategic research focuses in emerging fields.

About SGS

As the world's leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company, SGS is recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With more than 97,000 employees, SGS operates a network of over 2,600 offices and laboratories around the world. SGS Group is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

  • SGS Headquarters

1 Place des Alpes,

P.O. Box 2152, 1211,

Geneva, Switzerland