The Hindu Business Line : ‘Holistic approach to security must for cos’

Coimbatore, Jan. 27 Security is not just about installing firewall or anti-virus software in the present day context. With companies growing in number, in size – either by opening new branches or through mergers and acquisitions, managing information and data has become crucial.

“Identity Management (IDM) Solutions would offer complete protection. And this is not just a technology issue. It is a business issue. A strong information security framework would help organisations reduce threat (which can come from internal and external sources), improve compliance and maintain customer confidence and loyalty. IDM helps reduce these operational risks,’ says Mr S.P.S. Grover, Vice-President (Technology Sales), Oracle India.

Responding to an e-mail, he said ‘security is a critical component of every Oracle solution and it has been so since the company delivered its first secure database in 1977. Oracle ensures security inside the data centre and beyond, spanning databases, middleware and business applications’.

Organisations, according to him, have started realising the significance of IDM for carrying on the business more efficiently.

Excerpts from the e-mail response:

What are the major factors driving the growth of identity management solutions in the Indian market?

Increasing cases of online frauds related to identity and finance will drive the Identity and Access Management (IAM) market. This coupled with the growing concern among companies to protect the business information and customer database, will further spur growth. Some of the major factors driving the growth of such solutions in India will include regulatory compliance norms, managing identities and access control and compliance management.

An information security framework or IDM will allow businesses combat threats and improve compliance. According to the Radcati group, the identity management market will reach over $2.8 billion in 2007 in worldwide revenues and grow to almost $13 billion by 2011.

The major threats that enterprises face today?

Enterprises searching for answers to their security problems should increasingly take a closer look at their internal operations. Large numbers of security breaches happen from either an employee within the company or outsiders entering the network to corrupt it. The challenge is to ensure that the right people have appropriate access to the right resources at the right time and to be able to prove it. Organisations today face the challenge of maintaining confidentiality with respect to personal and business information from unauthorised users.

An information security framework will allow organisations to reduce threats, improve compliance, ensure in-built security from start and help win and maintain customer confidence/loyalty, when information security is a top priority.

Is compliance – the major driving force behind adoption of IDM?

Security in every multi-user application depends on authentication, authorisation and audit infrastructure (AAA). This infrastructure depends on complete, current and accurate data about users. Identity management systems will enable reliable maintenance of data about users and their security rights.

A holistic approach to security would help companies save money. Today, companies spend phenomenal sums on compliance projects because they adopt an ad-hoc approach rather than as part of a strategic, proactive compliance program. This approach is costly.

In addition to global regulatory requirements like Basel II, privacy legislation is forcing companies to look at ways to certify data that is held to be compliant to privacy laws.