IT security critical to Financial Services sector

NEW DELHI: With online trading spreading its wings across cities, it is time for Financial Services sector to develop a disaster management plan and also invest on IT security.

Speakers at a seminar on Secure IT Environment for Foolproof Securities Trading organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) were of the view that Compliance with information technology security norms is central to a profitable business in the securities trading sector.

"Security is a journey," said K Subramanian, Deputy Director General of the National Informatics Centre. It is not a one-off phenomenon but has to be continuously upgraded and modified to suit the changes in cyberspace. Soon, securities traders will have to use only certified software and hardware to run their online businesses.

He felt one of the reasons for poor IT security compliance in India was low awareness among end-users. "More and better awareness about security and standards is the needed," Subramanian said. Users also need to know about incident testing and have a disaster management plan to minimize business disruptions.

Echoing Subramanian's concerns about compliance, Senior vice-president of the National Stock Exchange, N Muralidaran said, "Security is everyone's business and applies to both traders and individual investors." Traders have to develop a disaster management plan based on their security risk assessment. This has to be followed by policies and monitored by auditing to ensure compliance.

With substantial use of online services, IT security is critical to business continuity. Good security practices reduce unexpected disruptions of critical functions and assurance of minimum quality, said Country Manager of Business Continuity Management Institute Dhiraj Lal. The greatest threat to online stock and financial services is breach of information security.

New security risks have emerged with the rapid spread of online trading, said Assistant vice-president, NSG Financial Technologies. Internet-based stock trading increased by 20 percent this year compared to last year and non-metros account for half the total volume. It is extremely critical to implement and audit security measures in the small towns and villages and these are not expensive.

Using pirated software also constitutes a major security threat, said Microsoft India's representative on security and genuine software Brian Campbell. "Microsoft tested 348 counterfeit CDs in June 2006 and found 43 percent had malicious software. It's the same with hacks, password and key generators available from websites."

A study conducted in India indicated that eliminating piracy would create 150,000 new software jobs, infuse US$ 5.9 billion into the economy and create additional revenue of $5 billion, Campbell said. India's piracy rate is 72 percent, 2 percent less than last year. The worldwide rate is 35 percent.

CII is considering to create an industry based alliance for those companies who have had a security attack to share their experiences and gain from the collective expertise from members of this alliance, said CII's Chief Information Officer, Vikram Tiwathia. This will be a forum where they can seek help in achieving their cyber security needs. He emphasized the need to use licensed software. This will enhance Computing trust, Confidence building and Credibility retention, which are the 3 Cs of increasing usage of ICTs for online business security.

© CIOL Bureau