Vulnerable data in KPO

Don't get complacent as your data is vulnerable and needed precautions should be taken while deciding about the outsourcing root.Many instances have come to our notice where various hazards have taken place in respect of the confidential data. A sample of security breaches at third-party contractors in 2005 which have been publicly known all over the world are given below to help the general public in their process of outsourcing.In no way, however, the instances undermine the importance and necessity of outsourcing and is only an indicator to the precautions to be taken.

In February 2005, ChoicePoint, a major provider of identification- and credential-verification services based in Alpharetta, Ga., sold the personal data of some 145,000 individuals to criminals posing as small firms. The company later said it would “discontinue the sale of information products that contain sensitive consumer data, including Social Security and driver’s license numbers, except where there is a specific consumer-driven transaction or benefit” or a law enforcement purpose.

In April 2005, several employees at BPO firm mPhasis in Bangalore, India, were caught using client passwords to fraudulently withdraw funds from the New York accounts of Citibank customers. In June of the same year, an employee at BPO firm Infinity e-Systems in New Delhi sold the account numbers and passwords of 1,000 bank customers to a reporter from the British tabloid The Sun for $5,000. (The names of the breached banks were not disclosed.) And most recently, on November 12 2005, four former employees of Indian call center operator Parsec Technologies were arrested for allegedly stealing classified information.

Parsec services housing mortgage originators in the U.S., and the ex-employees had diverted the contact information of potential mortgage finance customers to a firm they had set up called Telequest Systems, which in turn passed the information on to other call centers. The scandal came to light when there was a sudden drop in the productivity of call centers hired by Parsec. In our opinion, companies naive enough to not pay attention to this growing problem are going to suffer serious losses. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Expect to see more of these "problems" in the weeks and months ahead.