Enterprise Cybersecurity is increasingly gaining salience at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). The IT major has been ramping up its cybersecurity platform with new teams and a new suite of solutions for enterprises. Over the last two years, the demand for cybersecurity solutions among its clients has grown significantly due to the pandemic’s impact on digital transformation. This period has also seen a drastic change in how cybersecurity is viewed by enterprise leaders. And for good reason since, as per a recent Sectrio report, India experienced a 290% increase in cyber- attacks in 2021. These included attacks on national infrastructure, manufacturing facilities, businesses and individuals via phishing emails and messages.
Given this surge in attacks, investments by Big Tech in India in cybersecurity have increased. As per IBM X-force threat intelligence index 2022 report, 26% of global cyberattacks target Asia. “The realisation is dawning on leaders that cybersecurity and the trust a good program instils in its customers, regulators, the wider ecosystem and vendors, will be fundamental to how partnerships are forged, and business is conducted in the near future,” says Santha Subramoni, global head, Cyber Security, TCS. “All these factors, coupled with stringent regulation that is holding senior leaders accountable for cyber breaches, is bringing about a cultural change at the enterprise leadership level,” she adds.
Loss of an organisation’s brand value, customer trust, and intellectual property, the costs of operational disruption, impact on an organisation’s credit rating and the threat to national security and critical infrastructure are some of the far-reaching effects of a cyberattack event. While the situation appears challenging, it also presents an opportunity to lead the trust game in the market. It is with this in mind that TCS is boosting its cybersecurity capabilities.
“I have witnessed a tectonic shift in our customer landscape on cybersecurity-related conversations and spends. Our deal pipeline is exploding, and we are now one of the fastest growing service lines at TCS,” says Subramoni. To meet this demand, the company is also strategising for talent supply. Local hiring, strengthening entry level talent and upskilling existing platforms are some of the policies that TCS employs currently to ensure a steady supply of cybersecurity talent. “We also have an ethical hacking contest attracting participation from 25-30k students across the globe each year, with the winners being offered work at TCS Cyber Security,” she says.
TCS Cyber Security, which has existed in the company for 20 years, has 10,000 dedicated associates, with specialised threat management centres in 12 global locations. The firm has partnerships with both global and Indian academic institutions like Cornell Tech, Yale University, Tel Aviv University, IIT Kanpur, cooperative research centres in CSCRC Australia, among others, to foster research and innovation in the field.
Enterprises face challenges on several fronts when it comes to cyberattacks. Securing the network boundaries that extend beyond traditional network perimeters, security of underlying networks to enable remote access to enterprise systems, secure access to cloud applications via traditional networks, and security of software driven networks are a must for the industry today. The challenges necessitate cybersecurity readiness of enterprises which, simply put, entails looking past network firewall and antivirus software for greater safety. “It requires confidence of being able to protect the enterprise from data and IP theft as well as preserve the brand,” says Subramoni. “Organisations must recognise security as an extended ecosystem and evangelise security as a culture. They must invest in continually educating their employees, partners, and customers on cybersecurity,” she adds.
Despite the advent of Web 3.0 tech like blockchain, which, at the outset, promises ultra secure information exchange, there is a lot to work on in the domain, even as the demand for enterprise cybersecurity is expected to grow further. “While the claim is that Web 3.0 enhances privacy and security, I’m still concerned about the quality of information as the data will be machine-managed and its accuracy can’t be determined,” says Subramoni. “Another concern is the decentralisation aspect of Web 3.0. Due to the lack of central control and access to data, Web 3.0 could make it even more difficult to monitor cyber activity,” she adds.
