Pune: The Indian industry need no longer lose sleep over
finding 'secure' and 'trustworthy' companies to audit
its cyber-security systems. The industries will soon have
access to a ready-made list of 12 IT security companies,
drawn up by the Central government, which will meet its
stringent requirements and quality standards. The list
will be displayed soon on the website of the Indian computer
emergency response team (CERT-In).
"A high-level committee, appointed by the CERT-In,
ministry of communication and information technology,
has shortlisted the firms after a detailed analysis of
47 companies for around five months," Capt Felix
Mohan, Director - SecureSynergy and former member of the
Information Security Task Force of the National Security
Council, Government of India, said.
With the increasing threat to information systems, there
is a need for speedy audit and having a handy list of
'trustworthy organisations' would be of great help to
the industry, he said. Mohan was speaking on the sidelines
of a seminar on 'Communication technology and IT applications
in defence', organised by the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce,
Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA).
The committee, which submitted its shortlist to the government
on April 11, was headed by N. Balakrishnan, head of division
of information science of the Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore, and it comprised seniorlevel representatives
from organisations concerned with security, like the National
Informatics Centre, the National Security Council and
the Defence Research and Development Organisation.
Mohan said though the list has been essentially made for
the benefit of Central and state governments and public
sector undertakings, private companies can also use it.
According to him, picking up any company from this list
would mean dealing with an entity which meets all the
quality conditions required to conduct a comprehensive
security audit, has certified professionals like certified
information security auditors and certified information
system security professionals and is transparent in terms
of costs and terms and conditions.
