Expert View

April 22, 2003
Security has emerged as third major concern

Prosoft Training Asia Ltd. has partnered with over 15 IT training companies in India, such as New Horizons, IACM, ACIT, ACT, etc. It has also allied with Prometric in the Asia Pacific region to expand the availability and convenience of its services to its testing partners and candidates. Convergence plus met up with Sanjay Dixit, regional manager, Prosoft, to find out more about the company's strategies for India and discuss about e-security issues in general. Excerpts from the interview:

Convergence Plus: Security is a big issue in the IT and telecom market. How do you think your company is addressing these issues?

Sanjay Dixit: We do understand and relate to the e-security needs of today. In fact, it has become an important issue not only for IT and telecom companies but is crossing other industries as well. Of these, banking, finance, and insurance sector that run mission-critical data are more susceptible to security attacks. In fact, a vulnerability index developed by US based Computer Economics puts banks and financial institutions at the top of this list. Also, if you notice, approximately one-third of all jobs posted on job boards require some type of security expertise.

Early this year, if you had accessed monster.com, there were about 80 job listings requiring CIW certification. Naukri.com also had about the same number of job listings for e-security skills. ProsoftTraining, a global leading provider of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) certifications and curriculum, having realised the need for specialised training in this sector has launched the internationally acclaimed CIW program in India. The CIW Security Analyst Program would enable the professionals to implement security policies, identify security threats and develop counter measures using firewalls and attack recognition technologies.

CP: People generally tend to spend less on their security side. Do you see that changing? Why?

SD: Earlier, most of our businesses were managed through paperwork, files and reports wherein the probability of losing data was less, being human error or negligence on the part of the employee. But today, as more and more businesses are becoming technology centric, more and more corporates are becoming vulnerable to security breaches, financial frauds, sabotage of data and networks. Today, anyone in the world can access your data, which can lead to a tremendous financial loss. It is generating a whole new set of concerns across different industry segments, leading to an increased requirement for skilled ICT workers. In fact, over the past few years Indian companies have been sending an increasing number of employees abroad for security-related training. In addition, a recent IDC survey showed that security has emerged as the third major concern after R&D and technical expertise.

CP: How big is the e-security market?

SD: The global market for information security services is growing at an exponential rate. A Gartner Dataquest survey estimates the worldwide market for security solutions to grow up to $4.3bn in 2002, 18 percent increase from $3.6bn in year 2001. In the year 2002, the Indian market for information security was between Rs. 150-Rs.175 crore (Nasscom-IDC estimates) and it is likely to grow at 25 percent to 30 percent annually. Also, the security market in India is changing and the market is maturing with organisations becoming aware of the need to have an integrated security policy. In fact, according a recent IDC survey, security has emerged as the third major concern after R&D and technical expertise.

CP: How do you think it will help the Indian IT industry?

SD: CIW certification will validate competency in IT jobs such as network administration, security, Web design and development, and Java programming. IT workers in over 100 countries have earned more than 50,000 CIW certifications since the program's inception in 1998.

The CIW program will integrate multiple educational tools to provide hands-on experience with the operating systems, software packages and hardware systems used in each job's environment. Individuals will gain practical technical knowledge and learn industry practices required in today's multi-vendor job environments.

CP: Of late, many viruses have affected large organisations? How do you see your programs helping against such attacks?

SD: The CIW Security Analyst Program helps individuals by developing their skills to create firewalls, prepare couter-measures and perform different phases of a security audit, including discovery and penetration. It will also enable them to prevent unauthorised users from controlling company networks. Students will learn how to generate effective audit reports that can help organisations improve their data security and become up-to-date with industry security standards. The CIW Security Analyst program teaches the latest security industry recommendations and how to properly protect databases and networks in a variety of settings. Students will also learn how to protect systems from attacks, reconfigure the operating system to fully protect it, and scan hosts for known security problems.

CP: How important is the Indian market for your company? What kind of investment do you plan to make for India?

SD: As not many initiatives have taken place in the e-security domain, India holds potential for ProSoft. Until last year companies were sending their employees to upgrade their skills on security related issues. Its time to create a pool of skilled and trained professionals to address security related issues. CIW certification is important for all types of IT professionals, from career changers and business professionals to experienced and certified IT professionals. ProsoftTraining will be investing close to about US$300,000 in India by 2004.

CP: What kind of training will your company provide?

SD: Prosoft does not have a training facility in India but to make the program accessible to the larger masses, Prosoft has partnered with over 15 IT training companies across the country, which includes New Horizons, IACM, ACIT, ACT, Vibrant e-Technologies to name a few. Prosoft has also entered into an alliance with Prometric in the Asia Pacific region to expand the availability and convenience of its services to its testing partners and candidates.

The modules of CIW Security Analyst Program are as follows:

Security Auditing, Attacks, and Threat Analysis -- It teaches students how to perform different phases of a security audit, including discovery and penetration, and how to prevent unauthorised users from controlling company networks. The course discusses how to use Windows 2000 and Linux to identify security issues and suggest industry-standard solutions. Students will also learn how to generate effective audit reports that can help organisations improve their security and become current with industry security standards.

Operating System Security -- It is designed to teach students the latest security industry recommendations and how to properly protect Windows 2000 and Linux servers in a variety of settings. Students will learn how to protect Windows 2000 and Linux systems from attacks, reconfigure the operating system to fully protect it, and scan hosts for known security problems. Under this module, the students will have a solid understanding of the security architectures used by Windows 2000 and Linux.

Network Security and Firewalls -- It teaches students to secure networks from unauthorised activity. Students learn about establishing an effective security policy, identifying different types of hacker activities, understanding the hacker's mind-set, and preventing and managing hacker penetration. Students will also learn about authentication procedures, encryption standards and implementations, ports and protocols that hackers manipulate, and how to engage in proactive detection and response/reporting methods.

CP: What is your future plans for the Indian market?

SD: In anticipation of high interest in this certification, Prosoft Training is geared to introduce other certification programs in India like the CIW Web Developer, CIW Master Administrator, CIW Internet Working Professional and CTP (Convergent Telecom Professional). Already Prosoft Training is offering the CCNT (Certified in Convergent Network Technology) course online.