IT security set to boom: NASSCOM

8220;According to IDC estimates, the demand for IS professionals is around 18,000 in India and over 60,000 worldwide. This figure is expected to jump to 77,000 in India and 1.88 lakh globally by 2008,8221; it says.

Increased focus on security aspects is an immediate outcome of the changing business environment. At present, three per cent of software professionals are security specialists but this could double to six per cent in four years, NASSCOM said.

8220;While the IS market is clearly on an upswing, there is a growing scarcity of professionals that can develop and implement solutions for this segment to which the Indian IT sector must gear up,8221; it said.

A joint study in 2003 by Jobsahead and NASSCOM showed that less than 2,500 workers have specific IS skills, representing only 0.5 per cent of the total global IT workforce.

8220;Less than 10,000 professionals have a working knowledge of IS and at this rate by 2008, there will be a shortfall of over 100,000 IS professionals globally8221;, NASSCOM said.