Cisco launches Internet security range in India

BANGALORE: The Indian unit of US computer network equipment maker Cisco

Systems Inc said it had introduced a range of Internet security products for

local Indian companies.

The firm said in a statement its SAFE (Secure Architecture for E-commerce)

products would include components such as firewalls, intrusion devices and

scanning systems, device and user authentication, anti-virus technologies and

encryption.

"The SAFE blueprint will provide companies with a roadmap for

integrating security into the fabric of their networks," Alok Mittal,

manager, technical marketing at Cisco Systems India Pvt. Ltd. was quoted as

saying in the statement.

The launch of Cisco's products comes at a time when recent studies have shown

that many Indian firms adapting to the Internet are unaware of the serious

security risks they face until they suffer material damage.

A survey of 72 firms done by the Confederation of Indian Industry and

PriceWaterhouseCoopers had shown that 60 per cent of the respondents had

reported a security breach in the past 12 months.

Found out later



About 47 per cent knew about it only after the damage was done, the survey said.

Cisco said with the future of the Internet economy heavily dependent on

security, most global companies were rapidly securing their networks.

"In India, networks are still not secure or in a nascent stage of

implementation of a security policy," said Rajeev Chopra, head of marketing

at Cisco Systems India.

Cisco expects information technology security to be a crucial driver of

e-commerce transactions in India.

Indian software industry body Nasscom has forecast that e-business

transactions will reach Rs 35 billion ($749.6 million) in 2000-01 (April-March)

from Rs 4.5 billion in 1999-2000.

Cisco has offices in the major Indian metros and runs a global development

center in Bangalore, which is home to dozens of global and Indian technology

companies.

(C) Reuters Limited 2000.