India’s outsourcing suppliers plan to introduce a national screening programme for employees to improve the security of clients’ systems.
According to Personnel Today’s sister magazine Computer Weekly, the programme is being planned by the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), an organisation that sets the agenda for the Indian software industry.
The initiative comes after three former employees at an Indian outsourcing supplier working for Citibank were arrested for allegedly stealing £170,000 from US customer accounts.
The three ex-staff are suspected of stealing customer phone numbers and ringing them off-site to obtain account access details.
The Nasscom screening programme would allow existing or potential staff in India’s software development and outsourcing industries to securely register their details in a national database.
All details would be checked and verified by an independent agency. Every time a person applied for a job, their potential employer could pay to check their credentials.
As well as having to deliver greater staff security, some leading Indian IT companies have had to counter the threat of terrorism by regional separatist groups.
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Last month, Bangalore-based outsourcing suppliers Wipro and Infosys Technologies had their corporate headquarters evacuated as a result of bomb scares.
The separatists see IT services companies as a target for causing economic disruption.
