Shakil Kidwai is vice president of Global Information Assurance Services at EDS, the $20 billion US-based company which offers end-to-end services ranging from Management Consulting (through its subsidiary AT Kearney) to E-Solutions and Business Process Management. Mr Kidwai who has been with the company for over 20 years, now heads EDS' Global Security practice. In an interview with Priya Srinivasan, Mr Kidwai who is currently in Mumbai to address the IT Asia Millennium Conference, shares his views on the importance of global laws and security procedures to propel cross border e-commerce.What exactly is the Information Assurance Service of EDS?
Information Assurance involves communication security, information security and the protection of critical assets. Various mission critical systems are based on programmable chips which can be tinkered with. Storage of client information, management of power grids or management of networks in transportation are all important functions depending on the sector in question and protection of these assets is important to the business and this is the business that EDS is in.
Why have security issues vaulted into the limelight today?
What makes security issues more important today is the Internet. When critical data of major corporates is being sent via the Internet, there are certain issues involved especially since companies are not allowed to export encrypted data. A 128 bit encryption for instance cannot be transmitted between certain countries. This coupled with the fact that there are no laws governing EDI tends to hamper business prospects between countries.
To what extent are business prospects being hampered as a result of the absence of a law as well as secure systems?
We conducted a survey in the US last month and found that EDI Security issues are not limited to the B2B arena. 81 per cent of the respondents said that they cannot do business on the Internet since they are not sure if personal or financial information on the Net is secure. So we are not really making full use of the Internet. We estimate that there is a 300 per cent rise in spend on security per annum but the issue is that companies are spending in order to fix problems after a disaster occurs.
Which sectors do you think will show growth as far as cross border prospects go once security issues are settled?
We think that cross border business will grow exponentially if security measures are in place. Particularly in sectors like financial services. However, while security systems can provide a certain comfort level, you need laws to which entities can take recourse in case of default. There is a serious concern especially among companies which use offshore services, on the security threats of EDI. We need to create awareness about the need for a global law, again this cannot be a regionalised law. But even before that happens, companies need to give serious thought to their security processes to offer their clients a certain comfort level.
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