Fear of data leaks puts large companies and banks on high alert

MUMBAI: Many large companies and banks are monitoring key employees and internal information systems to stop the leakage of price-sensitive information as senior executives, directors and auditors are forced to work remotely due to the Covid-19 pandemic.Concerned over the theft and misuse of critical data, some of the top companies and banks, such as Wipro, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Tata Motors, HUL and Tata Steel, are putting in place processes to plug potential gaps. ET spoke to several senior industry executives, board members and auditors on the leakage of unpublished price-sensitive data during the lockdown.Many companies are preparing dummy results using junior employees while only senior executives have access to partial real figures. Some other companies are withholding certain large accounting entries related to stock so that real numbers aren’t reflected.“In most cases, a large accounting entry is held back, which would only be revealed on the last day to senior board members and executives. So, if a leak were to happen, the company could narrow down on suspects that had access to the real numbers on the last day,” said a senior partner with a large auditing firm that audits some of the biggest private banks.76779359Besides dummy numbers, some of the companies are also asking their employees and directors to download security software.“There is some kind of a CCTV sitting on my laptop that monitors anything, including whether I have taken a screenshot,” said the director on the board of a financial services company.“Work from home does bring greater challenges in coordination,” said a Wipro spokesperson. “A number of steps have been implemented by Wipro to prevent data leaks, including IT controls and processes. We also have a program around regularly coaching our employees on risks and operating procedures.”Experts said there were concerns around the security of communication platforms that companies use while discussing sensitive data. “We have secure communication platforms; the use of Zoom calls, Blue Jeans are avoided, obviously with the kind of data we are handling we cannot rely on app platforms for senior management communication,” said a senior private sector bank official.In many companies, some of the junior employees in the IT department are also under the scanner. “The IT staff or even outsourced vendors have access to sensitive information at a time when all the meetings are being conducted on video conferencing platforms,” said a senior executive at a large manufacturing company.Some of the largest companies have been targeted with data leaks in 2017. Quarterly earnings of some top banks, technology companies and industrial majors were allegedly leaked, sometimes hours before the announcement of their earnings, in June 2017.

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