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Information security survey launched

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Co-Chairman of the IT Task Force N Chandrababu Naidu has launched "India's first'' information security survey being undertaken by KPMG Peat Marwick.

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KPMG (India) Chairman and CEO Sridhar A Iyengar has said that ISS 1999 would cover the top 3,100 organisations in the country including diverse segments such as banking, finance, manufacturing, distribution, engineering, communication and services.

Iyengar said, "We are very enthusiastic about our initiative in this area. We are confident that the findings of this survey will be beneficial in analysing the IT practices followed by companies in India and benchmark the existing level of IT usage that will help in developing a secure IT environment for Indian industry.''

KPMG, Director, Information Risk Management, Sanjay Dhawan, said the survey is expected to help create enterprise-wide awareness of information security.

KPMG is looking forward to assess this through the survey as the emerging technologies expose organisations to a wider risk domain.

The Information Risk Management practice of KPMG, a leader in the field, lies in working with clients across different industries operating on a wide range of IT platforms.

IRM represents the suite of products and services offered to address IT related risks that affect the integrity, reliability, confidentiality and timeliness of information critical to the success of any organisation, Iyengar said.

Using the global database of best practices, KPMG identifies the strengths and weaknesses of information control management.

The database provides a comparison of IT risks and controls with similar organisations or internal operating divisions of the organisations.

The direct benefits of IRM would be:

• Reduced risk of system failure,
• Reduced risk of fraud,
• Confidence in information,
• Improved internal controls,
• Enhanced security and
• Optimisation of IT investments.

The prime objective of ISS is to investigate the state of information security and the IT risks that organisations are prone to.

The ISS is to be conducted by IRM, the specialist group within KPMG.

The process is aimed at helping clients across industry segments and IT platforms. KPMG has been instrumental in designing IT security, IT risk management, system reviews and IT control environment review.

Keeping in view the imminent growth of India on the world technology map, KPMG has targeted it as the next important location to conduct the ISS after the US and the UK.

The 1998 UK ISS demonstrated "eye-opening results and has been instrumental in increasing the information security awareness''.

It is necessary to identify the various IT-related risks facing the organisations and assess the current levels of information security implemented across various organisations in India to secure their information assets. "The survey is expected to be completed within three months," Dhawan said.

Dhawan said organisations in India needed to develop information security and reporting policies and implement them. In the absence of proper security reporting, organisations were more dependent on user awareness.

- Compiled from the Indian media

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