Applus+ Laboratories has been recognised as an IT Security Evaluation Facility for SOG-IS certification, becoming the first such centre in Spain and one of the few in the world holding this recognition.
The SOG-IS European mark is an extension of the International Common Criteria and is applicable to very specific technological domains, such as, for example, Smart Cards.
Common Criteria is the international standard for assessing the security of IT products and is based on 7 levels of assurance known as EAL (Evaluation Assurance Levels). There is an international agreement establishing the mutual recognition of certificates up to EAL level 4. But above this level, the acceptance of this certificate depends on each country.
As certain technological fields, such as Smart Cards, require assessments higher than EAL 4, the European signatory countries signed a mutual agreement of recognition (SOG-IS) recognizing assessments up to EAL 7.
To date, 10 European countries have signed the mutual recognition agreement (Germany, Austria, Finland, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Sweden) although only Germany, France, Holland and the United Kingdom have been authorized to issue certifications.
Thanks to Applus+’s expertise, which satisfactorily passed the SOG-IS audit, Spain and its national certification body (CNN) have become part of a privileged list of members authorized to issue SOG-IS certificates.