|
Monday December 12, 08:49
PM
India launches security software for
BPOs
New Delhi, Dec.12 (ANI): India on Monday launched a software
called "e-secure", at a seminar in Delhi to raise privacy standards
in the Indian BPO companies and counter security threats to the
Business Process Industry.
The product a collaborative effort of Confederation of Indian
Industries (CII), Call Centre Association of India (CCAI) and Secure
Synergy aims to bridge the security gaps and provide reassurance to
the foreign companies wishing to outsource their processes to India,
as well as domestic clients.
"E-secure is actually creating a bench-mark and will be a
certification which will ensure that the process that we have are
audited, reviewed and recreated in various organizations to ensure
that whatever we have bench-marked is actually according to global
standards," said Sam Chopra, President, Call Centre Association of
India.
Priced at an affordable rate of 91 dollars, industry leaders say
e-secure will be able to bring down e-crimes effectively.
The BPO scandal rocked the industry on June 23 when the Sun
tabloid reported in Britain that one of its reporters bought British
bank details from a Delhi-based ex-call centre worker.
India's call centres were first hit in April by a 400,000 dollars
online credit card fraud involving three ex-MphasiS employees, who
police said enticed Citibank customers to part with personal
identification numbers.
In London, Barclays, one of the banks whose data was said to be
leaked, said the information did not come from its own operation but
probably from a third party that requires customers to provide bank
details in sales transactions.
Citibank, ABN Amro, Standard Chartered and HSBC are among
financial giants that employ thousands of workers in India to serve
global customers. HSBC was among those whose data was said to be
stolen in the Sun's sting report.
The Sun said the institutions targeted included many of Britain's
top banks such as HSBC, Barclays, and Lloyds TSB. It added the call
centre worker claimed he could provide 200,000 account details a
month-including those of U.S. citizens.
While industry officials said security measures were in place,
investors felt security concerns could cause a short-term slowdown
for outsourcing firms that employ 350,000 workers.
ISO 7799 which provided a well-engineered structure for
information security management has also been revamped with
increased security threats to the Industry.
Till date 134 companies in India have been given the 7799
compliance.
"Today it has been revamped as ISO 27,001. This gives a kind of
framework, a base lining for an organization, what kind of security
processions they are having. So it has various domains. There are 11
domains in the new framework that is 27,001.
Till yesterday it was 7799 which addressed 10 domains but it has
now been revamped seeing the present security postures and security
concerns it has got added to 11 domains. By going through the
certification like 9001 what you are trying to see is where are you
in the quality process same way by 27,001 what you are trying to
bring out is what is the security posture and what kind of position
or baseline frame work you have to put in place in the
organization," said Vivek Gupta, IBM.
About 350,000-call centre workers and back-office agents are
employed in India working for about a fifth of Western wages.
Industry officials say employees are frisked and banned from
carrying hand phones, papers, pens or cameras that could be used to
steal data that can be used in credit card or bank frauds.
Workers also undergo background checks, sign non-disclosure
agreements and attend courses on guarding customer secrecy.
Helped by cheap telecoms and English speakers employed at a fifth
of Western wages, India's 5.2 billion dollar back-office exports are
expected to jump 40 percent in the year to March 2006.
In recent years, many British and U.S. businesses particularly in
financial services have "outsourced" thousands of back-office jobs
to India to save money on wages. (ANI)
| 
