The Hindu Business Line : More rigorous check on staff background

Terror threat
The Union Home Minister, Mr Shivraj Patil, recently said that IT sector was a `vulnerable target'.
Indian IT firms listed overseas have repeatedly stressed on terror as a major risk to their operations.

Bangalore , Nov. 26

Threat from terrorist outfits has emerged as a new risk parameter for the Indian IT sector. The main threats in the past included cyber crime and financial frauds. With terror now being added to that list, leading IT firms are believed to have intensified the background checks of their employees.

"IT & BPO firms are stepping up their security initiatives, including intensified employee background checks to deal with new risk parameters like terror scare, which was never thought about earlier," said Capt Raghu Raman, CEO of Mahindra Special Services Group. Capt Raman and his team of specialists advise the IT and BPO firms on the information security aspects.

On the radar

The Indian IT sector, which is increasingly becoming the back-end technology and operations hub for global companies spanning across a range of verticals such as financial services to healthcare, telecom, defence among others, has of late been on the radar of terrorist outfits.

The Union Home Minister, Mr Shivraj Patil, recently said that the IT sector was a "vulnerable target", along with nuclear and defence sectors for terror outfits. The arrest of two Pakistani militants near Mysore further validates the presence of terror links.

In fact, Indian IT firms listed overseas such as Infosys and Wipro, among others, have repeatedly stressed on terror as a major risk to their operations. An Infosys filing with the Securities Exchange Commission of the US said, "Terrorist attacks or a war could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. To the extent that such attacks affect or involve the US or Europe, our business may be significantly impacted, as the majority of our revenues are derived from clients located in the US and Europe. Any attacks in India could cause a disruption in the delivery of our services to our clients and could have a negative impact on our business."

Not only the large Indian IT firms are taking precautionary measures but major global players, who are ramping up their operations in India, are also seen strengthening their employee background checks. Industry sources said the background checks have been intensified in the past 10-18 months of both lateral and fresh hires. The checks would naturally get stricter as hiring increases, they said.

Police help

While majority of the IT firms are dependent on private background screening companies, some firms are leveraging the services of state police departments. This is in view of the extensive database of the police network and ability to cross-verify using the Interpol network.

Police help is being taken for tasks such as employee verification and screening.The scope of background screening that was so far confined to checking criminal antecedents and resumes of candidates for falsification of facts would henceforth scan for potential terror links.

Further, Capt Raman said IT firms should clamp down on their governance audits. "The culture of security followed by IT firms should not be tool-based, but defined by management principles," he said. This essentially implied that employee credentials should be verified at the ground level to prevent infiltration for sabotage or espionage purposes.

More Stories on : Information Technology | Security | Terrorism

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