February 2021 | 1074 words | 4-minute read
At a time when organisations globally have been forced to take as much of their businesses online as possible, Tata Consultancy Services’ (TCS) Threat Management Centres — which first started operations in India in 2018 — have been providing comprehensive global coverage in countering cyber threats.
Currently 10 centres, located at Bloomington in the US, Manchester in the UK, Madrid in Spain as well as in major Indian cities, provide rapid and expert security services locally while ensuring compliance with global and local data protection laws. TCS plans to establish more centres in Mexico and Australia.
Pressing need
The pandemic and consequent lockdown forced companies to fast-track their efforts to create a huge digital infrastructure for smooth operations and to enable employees to work out of remote locations.
Santha Subramoni, global head – TCS Cyber Security, says, “In this situation, the health of data centres, cloud systems, departmental servers and the digital devices that employees use to stay connected with each other and to the company’s data becomes even more vital. Almost overnight, the demands placed on the digital infrastructure have skyrocketed.”
With increasing digitalization we witness a surge in cyber attacks — the breach of a system’s firewalls and security systems at both physical and digital entry points. With technological advancements, cyber threats too have become more sophisticated and capable of causing tremendous harm. Thus, there is a pressing need to have ongoing surveillance systems and real-time risk analysis in place. Companies are becoming aware of the need to secure their systems against any threat.
TCS’ Cyber Security services primarily focusing on data privacy, regulatory compliance, general data protection regulation (GDPR), shared services, security data residence compliance, and security clearance of associates providing services have emerged as vital offerings during the lockdown by providing heightened security from harmful attacks.
To provide the much-needed next-generation security technology, TCS is setting up Threat Management Centres across the world. Ms Subramoni says, “These centres will focus on providing cyber security solutions and services, including managed detection and response services, incident management and breach support, on-demand cyber vigilance services, digital forensics and regulatory compliance.”
Security begins at home
TCS began by securing its own operations worldwide. This was accomplished by implementing the Secure Borderless Workspace™ which enables associates to work from anywhere, anytime without adversely impacting business.
The company also put in place the Identity Access Management program, with its own IdentiFence™ platform serving as the entry point. The Cyber Vigilance platform helps the company to defend the client’s estate from malicious attacks and intruders.
Bouquet of services
The centres focus on providing cyber security solutions and services, including managed detection and response services, incident management and breach support, on-demand cyber vigilance services on a 24x7x365 basis, digital forensics and regulatory compliance.
TCS Cyber Security’s range of security offerings includes Identity Access Management, Enterprise Vulnerability Management (EVM), Managed Detection and Response, Security Technology engineering and implementation, Governance Risk and Compliance, Breach response and forensics, Data Privacy, Network and Cloud Security and Niche Security (Industrial Control System Security Services in Information Technology (IT), Operational Technology (OT) and Internet of Things (IoT). It has introduced a slew of security platforms such as Cyber Vigilance Platform, Vendor Risk Management, Consent Management solution and EVM Suite of platforms.
“We help enterprises attain cyber resiliency. Our cyber resiliency framework includes four steps: Anticipate, Withstand, Recover and Evolve."
Most of all, clients benefit from TCS’ expertise and experience in providing cyber security through an accurate IT risk management analysis. Ms Subramoni says, “We help enterprises attain cyber resiliency. Our cyber resiliency framework includes four steps: Anticipate, Withstand, Recover and Evolve. The services under the resiliency framework include cyber security policy, risk management, legal services, vulnerability management, managed detection, zero-trust, incident management, business continuity, key performance indicators/metrics and continuous improvement.”
Securing multiple fronts
The new normal has given managements and employees the flexibility to work around their lives and personal schedules, while ensuring that work goals are met within the confines of the domestic space. However, it has become necessary to up the vigilance in terms of scale and intensity because working from home implies several fronts could be vulnerable to a possible cyberattack and therefore it needs to be secured.
Ms Subramoni says, “Enterprises need to manage individual access on cloud and identity management authentication methods including multifactor authentication. This transformation applies to workplaces and applications.”
“Following blurring of boundaries between the office and home, the security focus is a key concern to prevent accidental sharing of confidential data. It also enables us to remove redundant security controls, ensure visibility, centralised governance and adherence to compliance and regulations while ensuring continuity of operations,” she adds.
Customised security
TCS’ Threat Management Centres comply with the global cyber regulations like CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) and GDPR, besides adhering to cyber security policies of various countries.
Ms Subramoni says, “The centres offer comprehensive and integrated threat management services across information technology, operational technology, internet of things and cloud ecosystems, leveraging local expertise and partner ecosystems for seamless scalability of operations.
“Enterprises consider ability to provide assured security on their products and services to be of competitive advantage To enable customers to manage their digital security with ease, we also host innovation day events to showcase our offerings with demos for clients, to help them visualise various scenarios and make the right decisions to improve their security posture.”
High stakes
The higher the stakes, the more critical the vigilance and attention to detail required. In setting up the TMCs, TCS had to ensure that it maintained continued vigilance with respect to security compliance and put in strong security controls.
"Onboarding the right skills was also one of the challenges we faced. Our security teams have multiple levels of expertise in engineering and consulting and thorough knowledge of the security framework and policies. We use a multi-dimensional approach while addressing the requirements.”
Ms Subramoni says, “Onboarding the right skills was also one of the challenges we faced. Our security teams have multiple levels of expertise in engineering and consulting and thorough knowledge of the security framework and policies. We use a multi-dimensional approach while addressing the requirements.” The security teams are trained on a regular basis and are compliant to the latest security certifications in the industry.
The Threat Management Centres provide an answer to multiple dimensions of security services for a provider and customer. Organisations everywhere are seeking to achieve digital transformation through the adoption of cloud infrastructure to ensure seamless working. Companies today need to have the assurance that their systems are backed by a secure ecosystem. And that is an assurance that TCS’ TMCs can provide.”
- Cynthia Rodrigues
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