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, a 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 senior-level 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.