VeriSign, Inc., an Internet infrastructure services provider, today announced it is sponsoring a government-led initiative to drive awareness of Internet security issues throughout India. It states that beginning May 1, Consumer Information Security Awareness Week will help spotlight ways to fight phishing and spam, particularly among the key targets of e-criminals: children, parents, teachers, financial institutions and government agencies.

The company addressed that the week-long effort will kick off a longer term drive to build awareness of the increasingly sophisticated threats that face the more than 1 billion Internet users worldwide – and millions of Internet users in India. Consumer Information Security Awareness Week is hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry along with Department of Information & Technology and Computer Emergency Response Team-India.

It avers that as part of the effort, CII and CERT-In have established the Information Security Advisory Forum, which is a unified line of communication between government, industry and law enforcement agencies on information security issues. Proposed forum activities will include organizing programs that educate and train Internet users about the tools and resources available to protect them from e-criminals.

"Protecting consumers from phishers and online identity thieves involves a combination of technologies, processes and knowledge that must be applied in unison to thwart the attempts of e-criminals to harm Internet users throughout India," said Shekhar Kirani, vice president, VeriSign India. "As a trusted worldwide leader in the security industry, VeriSign immediately recognized the value of this effort and the necessity of highlighting the importance of online security to our wider Indian community. We see the most important message that should be taken away from Consumer Information Security Awareness Week is for consumers to understand and be aware of how they can protect their online identities."

"It is an established fact that information security management is a vital issue not only to businesses, but also to society at large," said Vikram Tiwathia, Chief Information Officer at CII. "Security and privacy are vital issues to all people in India, but especially to children and adolescents, who must be sensitized to the potential risk of using the Internet casually. This collaborative effort form industry will help in raising consumer awareness to enhance trust and encourage users to exploit online services in a safe way."