Companies
across sectors are making panic calls to security and surveillance
systems providers to get IT solutions to keep an eye on their employees
and to clean up the system in the aftermath of the recent government
crackdown on corporate espionage in various ministries.
Most companies in the country still use age-old surveillance systems to protect their data. Now, with the espionage case bringing this malpractices to limelight, everybody wants to update their systems. "I have received a lot of calls over the last few days from CEOs asking for audits to see if they are also vulnerable to something like this. There is a fear psychosis," said Dinesh Pillai, CEO at IT and physical security firm Mahindra Special Services Group.
"Not every call will turn into a security mandate, but now, interestingly, companies are looking to have security firms place one person in their company on a contract basis to ensure that the changes stick," Pillai told ET.
Corporate espionage refers to companies indulging in illegal and unethical activities to gather information from competitors with the aim to get an undue advantage.
According to industry executives, it is an open secret that sensitive data and information from ministries or even competitors are accessed illegally, and, according to some studies, almost 35% of Indian companies indulge in corporate espionage.
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Ficci), in its 'India Risk Survey 2014' rated business espionage as the ninth-biggest threat to Indian companies.
A senior executive of a Nifty 50 company said that after the news of arrests in Delhi unfolded, the head of his company reacted that the company was not protected against corporate espionage and should do something.
A top executive of another big corporate house told ET, "We have firewalls to stop unauthorized access. We also have a system that restricts the movement of physical files and we conduct regular audits on senior executive who are privy to sensitive information. But today, the big concern is theft of digital information and for that very, very few Indian companies have protection."
The corporate espionage case that unfolded in Delhi less than a week ago reveals links between ministry executives, consultants and private sector executives. While the case so far relates primarily to sensitive files being physically stolen, the industry stares at the danger of digital data being compromised, given its unpreparedness.
"We have found that few companies other than IT-ITeS firms have strong background checks and IT security. In the private sector, corporate espionage is generally around R&D for automobiles, and potential copyright violation. It tends to be sporadic except in M&A situations," said Ramesh Iyer, CEO of private security company Topsgrup. "There is always a need to companies to check if they are safe."
Industry executives said that PSUs may be susceptible to such threats given that most of them lack high-end surveillance system.
An executive from ONGC, however, said, "We have a robust surveillance and vigilance system in place that monitors the movement of files from one place to another and the time spent at each desk. We monitor movement of digital files in our local network and high value files are referred to internal auditors and vigilance teams."
According to the Ficci report, even though spying equipment like closed-circuit cameras, audio recorders and global positioning system (GPS) devices are increasingly being used by companies to monitor activities of their employees, only 15%-20% of corporate espionage cases are actually detected.
Most companies in the country still use age-old surveillance systems to protect their data. Now, with the espionage case bringing this malpractices to limelight, everybody wants to update their systems. "I have received a lot of calls over the last few days from CEOs asking for audits to see if they are also vulnerable to something like this. There is a fear psychosis," said Dinesh Pillai, CEO at IT and physical security firm Mahindra Special Services Group.
"Not every call will turn into a security mandate, but now, interestingly, companies are looking to have security firms place one person in their company on a contract basis to ensure that the changes stick," Pillai told ET.
Corporate espionage refers to companies indulging in illegal and unethical activities to gather information from competitors with the aim to get an undue advantage.
According to industry executives, it is an open secret that sensitive data and information from ministries or even competitors are accessed illegally, and, according to some studies, almost 35% of Indian companies indulge in corporate espionage.
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Ficci), in its 'India Risk Survey 2014' rated business espionage as the ninth-biggest threat to Indian companies.
A senior executive of a Nifty 50 company said that after the news of arrests in Delhi unfolded, the head of his company reacted that the company was not protected against corporate espionage and should do something.
A top executive of another big corporate house told ET, "We have firewalls to stop unauthorized access. We also have a system that restricts the movement of physical files and we conduct regular audits on senior executive who are privy to sensitive information. But today, the big concern is theft of digital information and for that very, very few Indian companies have protection."
The corporate espionage case that unfolded in Delhi less than a week ago reveals links between ministry executives, consultants and private sector executives. While the case so far relates primarily to sensitive files being physically stolen, the industry stares at the danger of digital data being compromised, given its unpreparedness.
"We have found that few companies other than IT-ITeS firms have strong background checks and IT security. In the private sector, corporate espionage is generally around R&D for automobiles, and potential copyright violation. It tends to be sporadic except in M&A situations," said Ramesh Iyer, CEO of private security company Topsgrup. "There is always a need to companies to check if they are safe."
Industry executives said that PSUs may be susceptible to such threats given that most of them lack high-end surveillance system.
An executive from ONGC, however, said, "We have a robust surveillance and vigilance system in place that monitors the movement of files from one place to another and the time spent at each desk. We monitor movement of digital files in our local network and high value files are referred to internal auditors and vigilance teams."
According to the Ficci report, even though spying equipment like closed-circuit cameras, audio recorders and global positioning system (GPS) devices are increasingly being used by companies to monitor activities of their employees, only 15%-20% of corporate espionage cases are actually detected.
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