BPO firms unaware of liabilities due to data breaches
December 2nd, 2010 - 8:07 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, Dec 2 (IANS) Employees of more than three-fourths of the business process outsourcing (BPO) firms lack awareness on liabilities arising out of data breaches, according to a survey released Thursday by global advisory firm KPMG.
“The industry treats data security more as a hygiene factor, rather than a point of differentiation to gain competitive advantage,” said a report from the survey jointly conducted by KPMG, the Data Security Council of India and the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) set up by the department of information technology.
“Almost 50 percent of the organisations are negotiating contracts to ensure that any liability arising from vulnerabilities in the client’s environment is borne by the client,” the report added.
The survey questioned organisations, among other aspects, on the levels of perceived risks in different lines of service including customer support, payroll, finance, on the roles played by their chief information officers and mechanisms adopted for conducting employee background screening.
“The survey highlights that while the industry participants have developed comprehensive frameworks for addressing the information security concerns, the aspects relating to privacy haven’t matured as much,” said Akhilesh Tuteja, executive director, KPMG.
The Indian BPO industry has grown nine times from $1.6 billion to $14.7 billion in just a decade and is expected to witness robust growth in years to come.
By 2020, Indian outsourcing industry (IT and BPO) which is currently at $60 billion is expected to reach $225 billion.
Only 44 percent of the respondents are mandating vendors or third parties to report new threats and vulnerabilities in their products or services, it added.
“This survey should act as a useful guide for senior executives of BPO companies in formulating their future positions and will be a good tool for many chief information officers in developing business cases for comprehensive information security programmes,” added Tuteja.
- Rising phishing cases open career prospects for ethical hackers - Jul 24, 2011
- US company acquires Randstad's Indian payroll business - Jan 16, 2012
- Top 20 Indian outsourcing firms grew 13 percent in 2010-11: Report - Aug 19, 2011
- IT, outsourcing power India's job market (Second Lead) - Jun 30, 2011
- India, US ink accord on cyber security - Jul 19, 2011
- India, China to see growth in BPO sector by 2015 - Aug 22, 2011
- Staffing companies value add services for higher rating - Jan 16, 2011
- Over 380 phishing incidents from January to October - Nov 25, 2011
- Government websites must follow security guidelines: Pilot - Dec 14, 2010
- IT, BPO sector lead job growth in India - Jun 30, 2011
- China replaces India as preferred outsourcing destination - Jul 15, 2010
- India, Kazakhstan sign civil n-pact, unveil strategic roadmap (Lead) - Apr 16, 2011
- Global partnership to increase the growth of IT industry - Oct 06, 2010
- Lok Capital invests $3 million in rural BPO - Sep 15, 2011
- Indian IT firms ramping up efforts to establish themselves in China - Jan 17, 2011
Tags: bpo companies, bpo industry, business process outsourcing, chief information officers, computer emergency response, computer emergency response team, developing business, emergency response team, employee background, global advisory firm, hygiene factor, indian computer emergency response team, industry participants, information security concerns, lack awareness, liability arising from, negotiating contracts, outsourcing industry, robust growth, support payroll