Symantec Corporation, a US-based cyber security company, unveiled its largest Security Operations Centre (SOC) in Asia Pacific and Japan in the city on Tuesday. The facility is also its second largest centre globally.

Located in DLF cyber city, the Chennai facility currently has 700 employees, of which about 140 highly trained and qualified cyber security professionals will handle SOC operations exclusively and the remaining in consumer segment and R&D.

“Our plan is to increase the number of trained employees in SOC to 200 in the next 2-3 years,” said Peter Sparkes, Senior Director, Cyber Security Services, Asia Pacific & Japan, Symantec.

Sparkes said access to the right quality of people is a major challenge across the globe and added that Chennai has the right mix of talent pool, which is a key advantage for the company.

Symantec has one SOC each in Singapore, Sydney and Japan under Asia Pacific & Japan region and one facility in Reading (United Kingdom) and Washington D.C.

The new facility will support customers and other SOCs across the globe, the company said.

“Cyber attacks that companies, governments and people face today are multi-faceted, requiring the combination of Symantec intelligence, technology and expertise to bolster defences to stop advanced threats,” said Samir Kapuria, EVP and GM, Cyber Security Services, Symantec.

India is currently at third spot in the ransomware threat in the Asia Pacific Japan region, Kapuria said, adding that with healthcare, government financial services, insurance and smart cities going digital, data security becomes indispensable.

Speaking at the occasion, Gulshan Rai, Chief Cyber Security, Prime Minister’s Office, said, “India is currently at 23rd position in the UN cyber security index and our target is to be within the top ten within this year.”

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