Vasco Data Securities sees a great opportunity in the government sector in India. The company’s COO & President Jan Valcke tells about the security threat milieu in the era of Internet of Things. Excerpts:
Can you tell us about Vasco’s business in India and your customer base here?
So far, in India we have registered 21 customers in the banking and 51 in the non-banking sector, among these many are SMBs. Our customers span across verticals, such as IT, financial services and pharmaceuticals.
Every customer has his own preferences and approach. The larger banks usually deploy Vacman Controller, the authentication platform, that is capable of processing heavy volumes of authentication requests and can support mass deployments. Smaller banks and companies, on the other hand, prefer an off-the-shelf centralised authentication server, which is the perfect choice to secure remote access to the corporate resources and various types of (web-based) applications.
We have about 20 active channel partners that are serviced via our distributors Redington and Adweb Techno Trade. We work with a limited number of channel partners to avoid any channel conflict.
What are the key trends in the data security space and what do you think are the driving factors?
One of the main problems today is the use of fake identities and identity theft. For some applications, it is not necessary to know a user’s real identity, for instance, for simple online games. On the other hand, some applications require the user’s identity to be verified before a service can be provided.
Also, the so-called Internet of Things, the universe of objects that are connected to the Internet, calls for a secure way to control these objects. More and more smart card and mobile phone devices are used to perform contact-less payments. However, there are some security risks involved as the new technology based on NFC (Near Field Communication) gives hackers new possibilities to intercept, modify or replay transactions. Moreover, it is also possible to copy the data that is not properly protected from a NFC device.
Last, but not the least, strong authentication and fraud risk management (FRM) solutions have become very popular with banks, due to the increase in popularity of both online and mobile banking.
How big do you think is the data security market in India and what is your strategy to tap it?
With India being in the world’s top five for the highest number of incidences in cyber crime, there is still a lot of work to be done. Moreover, the recent hacking incidents across the globe have proven the inefficiency of the static passwords.
Unfortunately, too often, implementing security is seen as buying insurance. SMEs pay for it because it is cheaper than the possible disaster. Nevertheless, an SME ought to see these problems as a challenge to position security and more in particular strong authentication, as a competitive advantage tool and business enabler. The most destructive outcome of a security breach is the reputation damage, leading to customers staying away.
Vasco believes two-factor authentication solutions can definitely contribute to boosting one’s business. Security, convenience and scalability are picked at random from the various possibilities. This contributes to a pleasant online experience for the customer, thus strengthening customer relationships.
What are some of the key trends in the application security space and how are CIOs trying to manage security of applications, especially in times of consolidation?
The market evolution of mobile apps in the tablet and smartphone world opens new business opportunities. Organisations worldwide can make their applications, data and corporate information accessible from any portable device for customers, suppliers and employees. However, more the apps, more is the potential for fraud and the more specific regulations will be needed to be put in place.
The security of online accounts is and will remain one of the major challenges. With explosion of social media as communication and business channels, the need for the adequate online security has become all the more crucial.
The Government in India is investing heavily in security. How do you plan to tap this opportunity?
Due to the sensitive nature of the data in the Government sector, confidentiality is of the utmost importance. Therefore more and more government agencies and departments opt for a multi-factor authentication solution.Vasco has had an opportunity of working with multiple government agencies in India recently, and has also picked up a large order from one of India’s large states.
