India Inc picks holes in security

Growing threats from terrorism, natural disasters and increasing instances of social unrest have made physical security one of the biggest concerns for corporate India.

A large number of companies feel the existing security standards, legal, regulatory and compliance frameworks in the industry were not adequate to support corporate security requirements in India, a survey by PwC India and American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS) said.

The survey revealed that cybercrime and corporate espionage have been rated as two of the most serious threats to organisations in the coming years.

More than half the respondents felt precautionary and preventive measures taken is still not adequate while only four per cent of the respondents felt that the industry was fully prepared to promptly respond to natural disasters.

This, according to PwC, is a clear indicator for companies to take a serious look at business continuity of organisations to effectively respond to natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes.

The survey also highlighted that about 73 per cent of the respondents felt that the number of security incidents had increased in the past two years and would continue over the next two years.

While five years back physical security assessment was rare and uncommon, today almost 46 per cent of the organisations surveyed in India conduct a physical security risk assessment once a year, whereas 17 per cent do it monthly.

“Over the past few years, corporate India has witnessed a steady increase in the number of physical security threats and breaches. While we have little control over them, we do have control over the ways we can safeguard our businesses,” said Dinesh Anand, partner and leader, forensic services India.