Emerging cyber crime including ID thefts, data thefts, credit card manipulation and stealing confidential information from companies, have put IT companies and BPOs on high alert. The IT-ITES sector in India has initiated several radical moves that has brought in some amount of confidence back in the sector. Companies are also demanding that Nasscom, the apex body for the segment, create awareness in US and Europe countries on the various security measures taken by Indian companies.

Says Ashwin Mittal, director, Cross-Tab Marketing Services Pvt. Ltd, an ITES company, “Data security is paramount in our business. We need to demonstrate strong systems for getting business, and can be exposed to litigation from clients if we do not protect their data. Nasscom can help by introducing a common platform of security standards throughout the industry and also by introducing a certification programme for companies' data security systems." Cross-Tab adopts strong data security measures at the personnel, process, infrastructure and technology levels. The company spends about 1% of its revenue annually on data security.

According to Neeraj Kaushik, country head-India, Trend Micro, a security software provider, “Security is not something that you do once and do away with, but an ongoing process. Where Indian companies lack is in constantly being aware of the challenges and accordingly redeveloping their data security measures.” Industry players say that, the job of a typical BPO worker becomes very suffocating as there is no access to personal e-mail accounts and access to websites not necessary for work are also blocked. Workers are forbidden from socializing with non-employees during work hours. Also visitors are required to seek permission and are required to sign a document of non-disclosure.