Threat Tales at the IT Haven

Abomb blast near an IT establishment in Bangalore would possibly have huge
repercussions. Bomb hoaxes, too, at least to an extent, achieve what the
software community says it doesn't need: scare mongering.

The recent incidents at Wipro and Infosys assumed more significance than it
should have in the wake of an uncovered terrorist plot to target software firms
in Bangalore. So, all threats and messages, even over the phone, have to be
taken seriously. Thus, we saw the Bangalore Police evacuate close to 200
employees from Wipro's MG Road office on March 9 for a thorough search. The
threat turned out to be internal; an employee made the hoax call, citing to test
the preparedness of the police as the reason. Infosys received a similar hoax
call on March 14, again leading to evacuation and searches.

The Police know that 99.9% of all threat calls are hoaxes. Who would want to
alert beforehand and ensure his objective remains unsuccessful? As a rule, we
have seen terrorist groups claiming responsibility after an operation has been
carried out. So, what's the point in evacuating staff, especially, when it can
impact service and productivity? The Bangalore Police, it now emerges, is keen
on not evacuating big establishments just on the basis of a phone threat.

There has been no overt terrorist action in Bangalore so far and the city is
largely considered a 'low risk' zone. The uncovered plot to target software
companies here has therefore surprised many. "Terrorism and the underworld
will thrive where there is illegal money. The transactions of software companies
are largely transparent," says Gopal Hosur, joint commissioner of Police,
administration, Bangalore city.

The
Karnataka government is in no mood to upset the economic spine of the city,
especially after the recent unrest over Bangalore's collapsing infrastructure.
It has assured 'necessary protection' to the software industry. Providing
physical protection to 1,500 companies is too much to ask for. Anyway, most of
them have good access controls and physical security of their own. What the
government can do, as the Police promises, is sensitise companies about the
threat perceptions and advice them on the precautionary measures.

How good are the security measures? To a large extent it depends on the
location of the establishment. Some software houses are located within the city
center, where there is not much standoff distance from the main road. So if a
car bomb goes off on the road, flying pieces of glass, an integral part of most
modern day structures, can cause immense casualty. The police therefore advise
against allowing unauthorized vehicles from coming inside the office compound.

Many companies already have disaster recovery plans in place and have also
upgraded their physical security after the unearthing of the Lashkar-e-Toiba
threat. The threat reports have mostly been interpreted as an effort to
intimidate and destabilise companies in the city that account for 40% of India's
IT revenues. Least assured, a noise in Bangalore would find an echo everywhere
else in the world. As Paul Ingram of security consultant Hill & Associates
says: "In case of a blast, you will have to look at loss in terms of
assets, corporate reputation, people lost, and the potential loss of investment
to Bangalore." The last case is the worst possible scenario. But, for now,
the city still remains a lovely place and the outsourcing boom continues
unabated.

Goutam Das in
Bangalore