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CHENNAI, Aug. 14

THE Governments of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra are wooing the Society for Electronic Transactions and Security (SETS) — the organisation that will coordinate and implement the security processes of the Internet-based industry — to set up its base in the respective States.

The Secretaries to the Department of Information Technology of these States made a presentation to the Chairman of the Society, Dr R. Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India here on Wednesday.

According to officials, these three States, as also some others whose officials were not present, feel it will be a prime catch to get the Society to establish its office in their State. With Internet-based transactions estimated at $32 billion, security is a major issue.

Presence of a nodal agency such as the Society for Electronic Transactions and Security (SETS) would catalyse additional investments in information technology industries, particularly those that are security-conscious. The race is essentially between the States that have made a presentation here, they said.

As it is, the Chief Ministers of some States are prepared to go the extra mile to net the catch, according to some industry sources. Addressing a press conference following the meeting, Dr Chidambaram said that the information technology industry should look at opportunities in security products in the face of the growth in e-commerce and enhance awareness of the need for security in Internet transactions.

The SETS aims to first enhance awareness about the need for security and the potential and threats in Internet-based transactions. This was crucial to the growth of the information technology industry.

In addition to information dissemination, the society would also identify areas for research in this technology and the details of authentication and security audit that would be needed. The span of security needs range from protecting the information in high security installations to banking and financial transactions to e-mail security.

While information technology generated a wealth of information, SETS would look at protecting this wealth, he said. A series of workshops would be conducted in the metros and other major cities over the next two months to highlight these emerging areas, he said.

Mr K.V. Nori, Chief Information Officer, Tata Consultancy Services, a Director on the SETS board, said that the industry should target achieving a leadership position in security products. It can build on its natural strengths in software.

SETS was registered on May 22 under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860 as a non-profit registered society following the recommendations of a broad-based committee set up by the office of the Principal Scientific Adviser, Government India, to define and detail a mission on information security.

The committee was headed by Dr M. Vidyasagar, Executive Vice-President (advanced technology), Tata Consultancy Services, and included representatives from the academia, R&D organisations, manufacturers' associations, user organisations and the Government. It looked into the specific technologies, systems and structures needed for protection, surveillance and monitoring and certification in the context of information security.

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