BSA, NASSCOM, NITSC & Security Policy

BSA (Business Software Alliance) recommended to put under US 301 list to those countries which lack rules to preserve and protect intellectual property right and who failed to follow vigorous enforcement action against software theft.

In a recent survey by the computer society of India reveals that almost one out of every two InfoTech companies in India has had its network broken into by hackers. And there out of every four companies acknowledge that there was some financial loss involve in such an attack, which attract two companies claiming that they lost $500 000 per instruction [16]

Robert Hollyman, chief executive of the Washington based BSA has estimated that the loss to the software developers on account of software piracy may be upto $1 billion a year. Through monitoring BSA has detected as many as 95,000 websites which offer pirated software called “Warez” by hackers.

In India, the National Association of software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) has proposed the setting up of a National Cybercrop Committee to provide helping hand to government and private agencies to combat against cyber hacking.

Hacking is an endless game. Whenever a new security device is announced, hackers take intellectual pleasure by cracking it. Six major security technologies that are connected to global net are: Firewalls, Anti-virus software, security scanner, internet protocol security (IPSE), Public key infrastructure (PKI). Among all these security technologies PKI is the principal tool to establish a trusted path for electronic transactions. PKI protects against assaults like disclosure of sensitive information, data alteration etc. The most protective technique is the use of “public key” and “private key”. With the help of these security on the Net, hoping to generate confidence in customers. So that the internet becomes a secure medium.[17]

The ministry of information and technology has setup a National information technology security centre (NITSC) as a part of a multi-pronged approach to control crime.

Top sources in the IT ministry revealed that the move was initiated following intruder attacks in many high profile organization web sites in India. For instance the web defacement of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, the theft of telephone numbers related information from the system of the chief manager, department of Telecom in Hyderabad by a hacker of Australian origin and the more recently, the web page defacement of the department of electronics by a Pakistani hacker.

The primary objective of this centre is to create awareness among the Indian IT community for IT security and related threats. It is also providing all relevant information and practical advice to help corporate sector to eliminate or mitigate security threats and make their systems secure.

Functioning under the R&D wing of CMC Ltd, the centre disseminates information software tools and issue virus alerts through a web site. Provides newsletters, advisories and booklets. It also offers consultancy services through security audits and training course. One such training course for managers and technical staff is started recently. As e-commerce takes off and transactions go online all care has to be taken. Slipping of Microsoft's Bill Gates credit card information into the hands of cyber criminals reveals that cyber security is a greatest challenge before us. Day by day budget of cyber security is going high. As per the recent survey most of the companies dealing with e-commerce are wasting more than 15% of their budget on network security.