BPO Organizations Acknowledge Need for Better Data Security

Apani's Net-News 0506

The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) has announced plans to create a self-regulating security watchdog organization to oversee security issues surrounding outsourcing in India. The effort is just one of Nasscom's recent efforts to improve data security in India and promote the region as a safe place for IT and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO).

In January, Nasscom launched the National Skills Registry as a way of registering IT employees and performing background checks to help improve Indian IT security and reduce the security fears of outsourcing. Nasscom claims the registry now includes 70 percent of the Indian IT workforce.

These actions come after a number of security breeches have caused US companies to question the security of overseas operations. In one widely publicized incident, former Mphasis call center employees were accused of stealing $350,000 from U.S. consumers' bank accounts.

A recent report by Gartner indicates that data security threats are adversely effecting the growth of outsourcing projects. Sunil Mehta, vice president of Nasscom stated that “data security and privacy concerns are now the largest barriers to BPO in India.”

In light of data security regulations like GLBA, PCI-DSS, SB1386, and HIPAA. US companies have become more focused on the issues of internal theft and misuse of consumers' personal financial information in call centers and BPO organizations.

While the new regulatory organizations formed by Nasscom are steps in the right direction for data security, they are not alternatives for company-specific global security solutions enforced across the enterprise.

Leading global organizations are now utilizing innovative security software to help secure their data within their organizations across multiple SBUs and over multiple continents. The software ensures that confidential data remains secure, allows segmentation by application, and offers the central management and reporting capabilities US compliance officers require.

Utilizing software that ensures enterprise data security across borders is now giving a competitive advantage to those companies looking to achieve the cost benefits of outsourcing without the increased risk of data theft from insider attacks.