There scary thing about these off-shoring scandal stories [Cheap Labor Proves Expensive For Citibank] is not only do Americans have to worry about theft when companies "offshore" their information but also they have to worry about it happening and not even finding out about it.
a. As you can tell from these stories, the details are being kept under wraps.
b. No major media outlet in the U.S. has picked up on this yet.
I follow this stuff quite closely but it took me nearly three days to learn of this.
[VDARE.COM note: Headlines that refer Cr or crore, refer to ten million rupees, a rupee is 2.2 cents, roughly, and a lakh, as Kipling fans could tell you, is a hundred thousand. That adds up to a considerable sum in real money though, nearly $350,000.]
BPO staffers hack bank A/Cs, steal Rs 1.5 cr , Times [of India] News Network, Wednesday, April 06, 2005
PUNE: Cyber crime has moved to the next level in Pune. Close on the heels of the Webcam Kulkarni scandal, in which a tenant secretly filmed girl students staying in his hostel using hidden cameras, the Pune police have unearthed a major siphoning racket involving former and serving callcentre employees.
They allegedly transferred a total of Rs 1.5 crore (US $3.5 lakh) from a multinational bank into their own accounts, opened under fictitious names. The money was used to splurge on luxuries like cars and mobile phones….
He refused to comment on the company's security system. Asked to divulge the name of the bank, the accounts of which have been hacked into, Dayal said he could not reveal names of the company's clients as they had signed a non-disclosure agreement. But, according to sources, the bank is Citibank.
12 Men Arrested for Illegally Transferring Cash From Citibank Accounts VOA News 08 April 2005
Three former employees of a call center in India were arrested for misusing financial data and illegally withdrawing money from the accounts of Citibank customers, police officials said.
Nine associates of the men outside the call center were also arrested for defrauding four New York-based bank customers of nearly $350,000.
Indian police make arrests in outsourcing fraud By Dinesh C. Sharma, CNETNews.com, April 8, 2005,
Security issues have been a growing concern for companies that outsource work overseas. In particular, companies have become concerned about the leakage and misuse of consumers' personal financial information in offshore call centers. The National Association of Software and Service Companies, an Indian trade group, has set up an Indo-U.S. security forum to make its members aware of security and privacy issues when they handle sensitive information from foreign companies.
"India is fast becoming the outsourcing capital of the world, and this kind of incident, while unfortunate in itself, when successfully dealt with highlights and reaffirms the existence of an effective framework of laws and a commitment to enforcing them in India," Nasscom President Kiran Karnik said in a statement.
Nasscom recently launched a security initiative in Pune with local IT companies and police.
"Distressing as this incident has been, it is a sad but realistic fact that no system can be 100 percent foolproof. The deterrence of prompt action is, therefore, critical," Karnik noted. "In this context, the proactive efficiency and the prompt success of the police reinforces the reputation of India as a country with a strong legal and enforcement framework."
Indian call center workers charged with Citibank fraud Twelve arrested, including three ex-employees of outsourcing company, by John Ribeiro, Computer World, April 7, 2005
The outsourcing of call center and other business processes from the U.S. and the U.K. to Indian companies has been criticized by many organizations, including U.S and U.K. workers' unions, which complain that members are losing jobs as a result of offshore outsourcing. One of the key issues that has been raised is the danger of data theft and misuse.
The threat of data theft and misuse is no higher in India than in other countries, including the U.S., according to the National Association of Software and Service Companies in Delhi. The organization maintains that Indian outsourcing companies have adequate security systems in place.
Modern transportation and bad immigration and trade policies have combined to create considerable risk for the US public-and the rest of the world. The latest outbreak of Marburg viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) in Angola appears considerably worse than past outbreaks of Marburg VHF or its cousin, Ebola fever.
This version of Marburg VHF is spreading considerably more rapidly than in the past. Many Angolans seem to feel that health care procedures are playing a major role in the spread of the disease., though WHO has recently been able to resume work
Doctors Without Borders has urged closing of some Angolan medical facilities:
One of the features that is unusual compared to past outbreaks is this one has spread rapidly into African cities, including at least one with an international airport.
As we have pointed out in the past, not all Americans profit from Open Borders or WTO managed trade. The principle of True Cost Pricing demands that those that profit from these activities should pay for the risks passed onto the general public.
