TPN content security programme growth plan
April 7, 2022
By Colin Mann
Film and television content security initiative The Trusted Partner Network (TPN) is expanding its programme better to serve the media and entertainment industry as it continues to grow globally and in complexity, and now conducts much of its business in the cloud. TPN’s expansion will be rolled out in phases and will introduce a more flexible and comprehensive program better to suit service providers’ and content owners’ priorities and needs.
TPN, a division of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), is building on the success of its original programme, launched in 2018, that established security benchmarks and a site security assessment to prevent content leaks and piracy. Over the next 12 months, TPN will roll out its enhanced programme including updated security best practice guidelines for cloud workflows; a simplified qualification onboarding process for all TPN assessors; an enhanced ‘Gold Assessment Program’ for application, site and cloud workflows; and a new ‘Blue Self-Attestation Program’ to provide vendors with the ability to report alternate security certifications to support the urgent need for a centralized, confidential and flexible content security solution.
Content owners and service providers will benefit from TPN’s expanded service, which will leverage the cloud, simplifying global onboarding for assessors, and create a consolidated and trusted solution from which content owners can accelerate individual decision making.
“TPN is growing to keep pace with an industry where security threats are more insidious and sophisticated, and work in the cloud has become the new norm,” advised TPN President Terri Davies. “Our expanded programme will embrace all the ways work gets done in our industry today while growing capacity, making it easier for service providers to ensure they are meeting security benchmarks and for content owners to make more informed independent vendor selections from a more accessible and centralised solution.”
TPN will begin a pilot programme in May 2022 to test, evaluate and elicit feedback to its expanded guidelines. The pilot programme will include the participation of leading creative service providers, as well as cloud security subject matter experts from the MPA’s six member companies, the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) and Convergent Risks.
In June 2022, TPN plans to launch a streamlined qualification program for security assessors. The new criteria will encompass application, site and cloud security. The process of qualifying assessors will continue to be uniform, objective, and accessible globally. TPN understands the need to increase cloud security audit expertise and by changing the method of qualification to be a TPN assessor, expects it will greatly expand global capacity to meet the growing industry need.
This fall, TPN will publish expanded best practice guidelines covering application, site and cloud workflows. The new guidelines will be used to develop TPN’s Gold Assessment Program, to launch in Q1 2023, which will enable vendors to measure and report conformity to the industry’s most recognised standards. TPN will also launch its Blue Self-Attestation Program in Q1 2023. The Blue programme will provide a flexible framework for vendors to self-attest and report compliance with various alternate security control sets. Self-attestation data will be available to TPN content owner partners for use in making independent risk assessments of their vendor. The programme will serve as a single-source-of-truth for security information and is intended to reduce the need for multiple vendor audits.
Davies said TPN will be proactive in responding to future changes in technology, workflow practices and security issues. “At the MPA, we are committed to the belief that our industry is stronger together than apart and we are driven to protect the work that our members create for audiences around the world,” she asserted. “We continue to build momentum on the great foundation that the TPN programme has in place to reduce effort, time and cost related to security assessments in our industry while ensuring the highest standards are maintained. We are also committed to supporting our studio members and vendors with the tools and information they need to collaborate productively, securely and in the trusted environment provided by TPN.”