Click to play videoNew Delhi: Data theft has been giving the bosses of IT companies and outsourcing firms nightmares in recent times.
First it was the Channel 4 sting that showed middlemen selling out the personal financial data of UK citizens for a pittance, and then the data theft in Gurgaon - that led to IT firm Acme Telepower pulling out of the country – came as the nail in the coffin.
So, how safe is India from data theft?
Is NASSCOM chief Kiran Karnik right when he says the media is blowing the issue out of proportion?
He has also said the only reason the issue making news is because it’s as rare as a man biting a dog.
“If you compare it to the international averages then India has the lowest rates of data theft in the international circuit - .0001 per cent - in the last six years maybe 10 thefts have been reported from BPOs,” says cyber crime legal expert, Vakul Sharma.
So what about the man who was caught by CNN-IBN trying to sell the data of Indian citizens for a paltry sum?
“There are some companies in the domestic circuit where the standards are lower in the domestic business,” says NASSCOM chief Kiran Karnik.
So the deal seems to be that if you are a UK citizen, your personal data would be relatively better guarded.
But problems don't just end there. Data theft cases, like others, go to the police. And that experience has left Acme Telepower surprised.
“The durability of investigation authorities needs to be checked. They only told us they would want to involve a third party. They also said they would involve NASSCOM,” says GM Marketing, Acme Telepower, Sandeep Kashyap.
The industry body says it's already doing all it can including training the police and that India is a great and safe place to do business - certainly safer than anywhere else in the world.
But is that enough to shoo away the nightmares? Only time will tell.
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