Now, corporates in India go tough to check employee-fraud

As corporates are get increasingly suspicious of their employees, now, they are installing surveillance equipments and are hiring detective agencies to keep an eye on their employees, according to a report by Moinak Maitra of Economic Times.

A Patni spokesperson, explained how the company has beefed up security with an extensive network of surveillance cameras, access control measures with shrill alarms to prevent unauthorized entry, maintenance of daily inventory of high-value items and awareness programmes with teams on IP and security-related issues.

The security business is booming, particularly after the downturn. The employers wants to be doubly sure before trusting their employees. Some companies deploy a complete one-size-fits-all solution with CCTVs and access controls linked to payroll. It not only prevents unauthorized entry but also logs in the time of entry and exit and calculates the number of hours the employee has put in on the workstation all in full glare of the camera. Information leaks in highly confidential meetings are common. This is when the mobile jammers come into the arena. In top secret board meetings, mobile phones of the participants are jammed to maintain confidentiality. Even the sales force and service teams are tracked. In some companies employees' emails are also monitored.

Going by the KPMG Fraud Survey 2010, the heightened sense of security among companies is justified. Among 1,000 respondents from Indian companies, 45 percent say fraud has increased in their organizations and as much as 81 percent say financial statement fraud is a growing syndrome. The survey also gives a roadmap for key risk areas in the future - computer-related fraud, intellectual property theft, bribery and corruption.

"The level of skepticism has gone up post-Satyam and there is leakage in the whole supply chain side. Corporates want to make the system more efficient," said Deepankar Sanwalka, Executive Director-Forensic Services, KPMG and the architect of the survey.

"Access control devices, CCTVs, intrusion detection systems are all linked to each other in the control centre and video analytics is woven into modern-day cameras that can identify the minutest of details in the image and sends out alarms," explains Gaurav Taneja, Director, Crisis and Security Consulting at Control Risks.

Though surveillance levels differ depending on occupations within the workplace, even a well-meaning employee unwittingly comes under the scanner.