India tightens cyber laws

THE RECENT case of the outsourcer who sold British people's data to hacks at the Sun has so embarrassed the Indian government, that it has been moved to change its wide open protection laws.

According to CIO-Asia, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told a special meeting of software company outsourcers that "stringent punishment" would follow any breach of secrecy, illegal transfers of commercial information and other cyber crimes.

Sanjaya Baru, the prime minister's spokesman, clarified that by saying that laws would be tightened so that any criminal activity in the outsourcing business was prosecuted.

However Baru also attacked our friends at the Current Bun, saying that the story was a stitch up designed to give the Indian outsourcing industry a bad name against the background of growing competition.

In doing so he is following a long list of Indian bigwigs who are accusing the UK of running a racist trade war by running such articles.

Arun Jaitley, a senior leader of the BJP Hindu nationalist opposition, said that The Sun's story was part of a campaign to 'undermine' Indian competitiveness as an offshore destination by exaggerating security risks.

The Sun's media buddies in India are also not particularly impressed either. The Economic Times accused The Sun of 'Indiaphobia'. The front page of yesterday's Sunday Pioneer also hinted at racism, with its main headline reading: 'It's just a Sun tar lotion for India.'

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