NCR Consultants Limited www.ncrcl.com

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Information Security - An Introduction Page. 04

Praveena K R

Chaos…is what we choose

Page. 03

Volume 5 | Number 73 | Sep 2012 | Page 1– 12

Consultants’ Corner

3 Message from Dr. RSM

4 Information Security - An Introduction

6 Identify self-sabotaging be-haviour and avoid it

7 Enjoy the Situation 8 What’s up at NCRCL?

9 An Exclusive Talk

10 Parichay

11 Knowledge Snippet

11 Birthday Greetings

11 Just for Laughs

11 Round Table

Inside

Our Mission is to apply our professional capabilities with a holistic approach for the happiness of clients,

through values and social commitment.

Information Security - An Introduction

Information is an organizational asset far more important than the actual hardware

that houses it. When this fact is neglected, this asset literally and figuratively walks

out the door at considerable expense to the organization.….…

-read more...page 4

An exclusive talk with Karthik

Enjoy the Situation In Washington, DC, at a Metro Station, on a cold January

morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach

pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time,

approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most

of them on their way to work. …...

read more..page 7

see more..page 9

Parichay

Altacit Global

see more..page 10

News

Identify self-sabotaging behaviour and avoid it ―My project is my topmost priority. I cannot involve myself

in other activities.‖ These are the words of Ramya, a

qualified IT professional. Ramya displayed a block with

regard to working as a team and being involved in

activities that require extra effort..………

read more..page 6

see more..page 8

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 12 10 11 Consultants’ Corner

Chaos…is what we choose

Dr. R. S. Murali

muralirs@ncrcl.com

In the last two months we have been discussing about

what we need to do in order to get rid of Chaos that we

meet in day to day life. Chaos or obstacles or problems

or issues arise due to various reasons. Some seem to be

originating externally and some internally. But the facts of

living science tell us how these can be tackled. This is

what we have been discussing the last two months.

Last month, we began discussing on the premise ―Chaos

originates in our day to day work primarily due to: lack of

knowledge, not organizing ourselves, not using

appropriate approach/methodology in what/how we do,

and the way we react/interact with others‖. Initially we

discussed on organizing/planning, and discussed how

knowledge plays a major role in various decisions we

take, and how interaction with others need to be done.

After discussions relating to these, we started focusing

on: Exercise, Diet and Meditation. Last month we

discussed about Exercise and Diet and now it is time for

meditation.

Meditation is one of those words used frequently and

mostly misused. A few decades ago the term meditation

was less popular than today. Usage of this word was

restricted to a spiritual few. Thanks to the communication

technologies and the interest shown by the western

world, the word has become so popular and has also

been extensively commercialized.

Very few people know that the word ―Dhyan‖ (meditation

in Sanskrit) became ―Chan‖ in China and ―Zen‖ when it

found its way to Japan. Now the word Zen is associated

more with Buddhism than with Hinduism. Technically the

term ‗Dhyan‘ means ‗attention‘. The issue is what is this

attention and in which context?

The word attention can be interpreted in many ways:

concentration, observation, awareness and so on. Also

today meditation has been made into a technique, and

part of yoga or mind/body training. Let us understand first

what is meditation conceptually.

Meditation is the process of observing oneself – this and

this only is true meditation. How does one observe

oneself? Firstly, one has to understand oneself. What he/

she is made of? – the body, mind, intellect combination

and the role of each. Cutting this process short at the end

of the analysis one understands that the true self is not

this body or the mind but the true substratum behind

these. From this position one should be able to observe

what the mind and body do. This process is called

meditation; and for people with good understanding and

no ego, this can happen throughout the day in every

activity they do. Such persons can do any job well and

will always be efficient as there is no ego in them. This is

the true meditation.

Actually it is very simple

but it requires very good

understanding inwardly.

The true happiness in

everything we do is the

direct result of such

meditative disposition.

Possibly for the purpose

of understanding, we can call it vedantic meditation.

The popular form of meditation that is yogic meditation

makes one‘s body and mind efficient. There can be no

time when the mind will keep quiet. In the former

meditation discussed one would observe how the mind

behaves and how the thoughts originate. In this yogic

meditation, one tries to reduce the multiple thoughts to

single thought so that there is order, concentration and

peace. By making the thought single one gets a lot of

energy to do day to day work efficiently. This is often

done by chanting a mantra repeatedly (small or big) or

following a piece of music. In these cases, there is a bit of

imagination but through the process of imagination the

required concentration and hence peace is experienced.

Whether we prepare ourselves through the yogic or

vedantic meditation, it is extremely important that we get

into the routine of meditation. At NCRCL, we are

spending about half an hour every week on Friday on

meditation, which is totally yogic meditation, which is a

beginning. Now what are the results of such a practice?

First and foremost, we can feel the peace and mental

energy.

Many of our colleagues in NCRCL have told me that they

feel thoroughly refreshed after the meditation session.

Yes this is a fact as all the stress and tension bearing

thoughts are cut-off. This helps in becoming efficient as

there is freshness and peace. It is like clearing the

temporary memory in our computers by which the system

starts working efficiently. As frequently as we clear this

RAM, our system will work efficiently. This means that we

should practice meditation more frequently.

The chaos in our day to day work thus can be reduced

by: Systemic approach to work, increasing our

knowledge, using right methods, increasing interaction

with others effectively. Along with this, we need to have

right amount of physical exercises supported by

consuming good and satvic food. To top all these up, at

least yogic meditation should be done. We should

gradually graduate ourselves to Vedantic Meditation.

These are simple prescriptions and once we do all these

it will be easy for us to realize and recognize that in most

of the cases chaos is created by our own selves!

Information Security - An Introduction Praveena K R

praveena@ncrcl.com

Information as an Asset

Information is an organizational asset far more important

than the actual hardware that houses it. When this fact

is neglected, this asset literally and figuratively walks out

the door at considerable expense to the organization. To

be an effective organization one needs to treat

information as valuable asset, with the concomitant

priority, resources, and procedures. Most information

today is created, stored, transported, or processed at

least in part using information technology (IT). No one

denies the necessity to adequately protect the IT

landscape. In addition, information from all other phases

of business processes must be adequately protected. IT

security incidents such as the disclosure or manipulation

of information can have wide-ranging, adverse affects to

a business or can prevent the organisation from

performing its tasks, resulting in high costs.

Need for Information Security

The meaning of information security is Safe-guarding

an organization's data f rom unauthorized

access or modification to ensure its availability,

confidentiality, and integrity. Business information might

be printed on paper, kept on computer systems or

stored in the minds of the users. Additional generic

terms used in information security include, for example,

authenticity, validity, reliability, and non-deniability.

Information security may be threatened by various

factors. Some illustrations are given below:

Wilful acts such as computer viruses,

interception of communications or computer

theft,

Force majeure (e.g. fires, flooding, storms and

earthquakes) can directly affect data media, IT

systems or block access to the computer centre.

Documents, IT systems or services are

therefore no longer available as required,

After an unsuccessful software update,

applications cease to function or data has been

modified without being noticed,

An important business process is delayed

because the only staff members familiar with the

software application are ill, or

Confidential information is inadvertently passed

on to unauthorised persons by a staff member

because documents or files have not been

marked "confidential".

ISMS definition & its components

Information Security Management Systems (ISMS) is a

systematic and structured approach to managing

information so that it remains secure. ISMS

implementation includes policies, processes,

procedures, organizational structures and software and

hardware functions. The ISMS implementation should

be directly influenced by the organization‘s objectives,

security requirements, processes employed, size and

structure. An ISMS specifies the instruments and

methods that the management should use to clearly

manage (plan, adopt, implement, supervise and

improve) the tasks and activities aimed at achieving

information security. ISMS involves the following

essential components:

1. Management principles

2. Resources

3. Personnel

4. Information security process. This includes:

a) Policy for information security in which the

information security objectives and strategies for

their implementation are documented

b) Information security concept

c) Information security organisation

Kindness and compassion toward all

living things is the mark of a civilized

society.

- Cesar Chavez

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 12 10 11 Consultants’ Corner

Information Security Standards

The various important standards in respect of

Information Security have been listed below:

1. ISO/IEC 27002:2005 (Code of Practice for

Information Security Management): This is an

international standard that originated from the

BS7799-1, one that was originally laid down by the

British Standards Institute (BSI). ISO/IEC

27002:2005 refers to a code of practice for

information security management, and is intended

as a common basis and practical guideline for

developing organisational security standards and

effective management practices.

2. ISO/IEC 27001:2005 (Information Security

Management System -Requirements): This

standard specifies the requirements for establishing,

implementing, operating, monitoring, reviewing,

maintaining and improving a documented

Information Security Management System (ISMS)

within an organisation. It is designed to ensure the

selection of adequate and proportionate security

controls to protect information assets.

3. ISO/IEC 15408 (Evaluation Criteria for IT Secu-

rity: This standard is commonly known as the

―Common Criteria‖ (CC). It consists of three parts:

ISO/IEC 15408-1:2005 (introduction and general

model), ISO/IEC 15408-2:2005 (security functional

requirements) and ISO/IEC 15408-3:2005 (security

assurance requirements). The standard helps

evaluate, validate, and certify the security assurance

of a technology product against a number of factors,

such as the security functional requirements

specified in the standard.

4. COBIT: The Control Objectives for Information and

related Technology (COBIT) is ―a control framework

that links IT initiatives to business requirements,

organises IT activities into a generally accepted

process model, identifies the major IT resources to

be leveraged and defines the management control

objectives to be considered‖. The IT Governance

Institute (ITGI) first released it in 1995, and the

latest update is version 5.0, published in 2012.

COBIT is increasingly accepted internationally as a

set of guidance materials for IT governance that

allows managers to bridge the gap between control

requirements, technical issues and business risks.

Based on COBIT 4.1, the COBIT Security Baseline

focuses on the specific risks around IT security in a

way that is simple to follow and implement for small

and large organisations.

Advantages of ISMS Certification

The various advantages for an organisation in getting its

ISMS certified by ISO are as follows:

Provides a structured way of managing

information security within an

organisation

Provides an independent assessment of an

organization‘s conformity to

the best practices agreed by a community of

experts for ISMS.

Provides evidence and assurance that an

organization has complied with

the standards requirement.

Enhances information security governance

within the organization.

Enhances the organization‘s global positioning

and reputation.

Increases the level of information security in the

organization.

ISMS Consultancy Opportunity

In the current age of Information revolution, ISMS

provides a tremendous opportunity for Management

Consultants. Organisations are showing increasing

interest in complying with ISO 27000 series. Consultants

can fit in umpteen roles in this process; as planners,

designers, implementers, auditors, etc. At this juncture it

is important to equip oneself with IS related

qualifications such as CISA, CISSP, CISM, etc. and

certifications provided by reputed institutions such as

BSI, ICAI, etc.

Related Links:

Some links that make a useful read on this topic are:

http://www.isaca.org/cobit/pages/default.aspx

http://www.27000.org

Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at

hand. The sun's rays do not burn until

brought to a focus.

- Alexander Graham Bell

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 12 10 11 Consultants’ Corner

―My project is my topmost priority. I cannot involve

myself in other activities.‖ These are the words of

Ramya, a qualified IT professional. Ramya displayed a

block with regard to working as a team and being

involved in activities that require extra effort. This

behaviour alienated her from the others and left her with

hardly any friends. However, Ramya was convinced that

she was being a thorough professional in spite of her

immense personal issues.

What went wrong with Ramya? She developed

self-sabotaging behaviour which psychologists also term

as ‗self handicapping‘ behaviour. This behaviour forms a

protective wall from the outside world and allows the

person to avoid failures through assuming an imaginary

obstacle on the path, procrastination, and negative

beliefs about oneself.

Research indicates that this leads to negative

self-esteem where a person is encouraged to make

excuses for poor performance. A recent research on

‗self-sabotage and why some people can‘t handle

success‘ was done by Dr. Jason Plaks from the

University of Toronto along with Kristin Stecher from the

University of Washington. They found that performance

goes down when people have a fixed view of their

abilities which makes them disoriented and anxious if

they are successful.

People like Ramya try to escape by switching jobs

frequently as adapting themselves to an environment

becomes difficult.

This is because they are convinced that they are right

and the world has turned against them! They fear failure

and feel safe in their protective cocoon of negative

self-esteem.

What are the signs of self-sabotaging behaviour? This

behaviour is very subtle and soon becomes a habit

leading to a definite pattern before you realise that you

are a victim of this behaviour. There is no logical or

reasonable explanation for this condition.

The excuses form a pattern and vary from physical

ailments to not having enough time to complete the

tasks. The mental patterns include not accepting the

subconscious truth but substituting it with the pain of the

conscious mind which is a strong weapon preventing

you from thinking beyond it!

Fear, focussing on things that are not right, drifting with

no real purpose, falling or failing relationships are some

of the tell tale signs which need to be identified and

accepted for taking any step towards overcoming this

behaviour.

Identify self-sabotaging behaviour and avoid it Rekha Murali

rekha@ncrcl.com

(As published in ‗The Hindu—opportunities‘ dated July 18, 2012)

What can we do to overcome self-sabotaging

behaviour? Some simple steps include:

Acceptance: The first step would be identifying and

accepting that your behaviour needs to change and that

it is ruining you from being the person you could be!

Warning signs: Watch for the warning signs and shift

your focus to all the small things that work well for you.

Talk to a colleague or mentor to steer you on to the right

course.

Set Goals: Convert all your excuses into small short

term goals to be achieved one by one. This can be done

by making a to-do list or having placards of the goal

placed in strategic areas as reminders.

Change thinking: Replace the negative thoughts with

positive ones that would motivate you to accomplish

your goals. Maintain a journal of all the positive

outcomes of each day for motivation.

Fear: Admit and accept failures as they lead you to the

path of success. Graciously accept negative feedback to

avoid the fear of failure, accepting that it is a learning to

achieve mastery.

Relationships: Appreciate the people in your life by

looking at the qualities that you value in each

relationship. This will motivate you to imbibe the values

and also sustain the relationship. Give and take is an

important part of any relationship. Create time to

acknowledge the other person with all the traits on a

regular basis.

Inner enemies: Recognise that the enemies are the

thoughts within you and therefore catch yourself each

time you blame the big bad world outside.

Professional help: If none of the above steps works, get

professional help for assistance in overcoming this

problem. This is something that can be easily rectified.

Accepting that you need to change requires a lot of

courage. This would motivate you to put in your best

effort towards the desired change. It is ultimately in the

hands of each individual to tap the inherent talent and

potential towards learning and growth to lead a fulfilling

and enriching life!

Turn your face toward the sun and the

shadows will fall behind you.

- Maori Proverb

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 12 10 11 Consultants’ Corner

Enjoy the Situation Suresh C S

sureshcs@ncrcl.com

In Washington, DC, at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces

for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way

to work. After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and

stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About 4 minutes later:

The violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At 6 minutes:

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At 10 minutes:

A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but

the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by

several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.

At 45 minutes: The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped

and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk

at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

After 1 hour:

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one

applauded. There was no recognition at all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest

musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever

written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua

Bell sold-out a theatre in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit

and listen to him play the same music.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station,

was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about

perception, taste and people's priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:

In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

If so, do we stop to appreciate it?

Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music

ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made.

How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?

Enjoy life NOW. It has an expiration date!!!!!

Source: Internet

It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.

- JK Rowling

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 12 10 11 Consultants’ Corner

What’s up at NCRCL?

Kishore attended a workshop on Enhancing Business Performance through Process Mapping, conducted by CII at

Puducherry on August 28, 2012

Rekha Murali presented a paper on ―Emotions and Well-being‖ at a national seminar on ―well-being across life spans‖

organised by Ethiraj college for Women, Chennai on August 20, 2012.

Representatives of the State Audit Department of Andhra

Pradesh visited NCRCL Bangalore on 8th August 2012.

VRS and Ashok took them through the implementation of

FBAS in BBMP.

VRS and Ashok visited State Institute of Rural

Development in Mysore on 14th August 2012. See the

training studio for conduct of online training.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 12 10 11 Consultants’ Corner

An Exclusive Talk with Karthik M V

Karthik M V

Working as Consultant Born on 06th March Email: Karthik@ncrcl.com Mob No: +91 9036146369

CC. The meaning of your name.

Karthik: I was named after my star ―Karthika‖ in Malayalam. And there ends the story I think!

CC. Nickname.

Karthik: M V

CC. Your dream job.

Karthik: Where my work involves a lot of talking and meeting new people.

CC Your first impression of NCRCL.

Karthik: An unusual work profile for a fresh CA to have.

CC. What personal/emotional characteristic of yours do you want to change?

Karthik: My anger and laziness

CC. Money or job satisfaction?

Karthik: Job satisfaction any day but for the last day of the month!!!

CC. Your Stress buster.

Karthik: Music and Outdoor Sports

CC. Do you have a small circle of close friends, rather than a large number of friends?

Karthik: Large number of friends. And yes, some are 3 a.m. friends too.

CC. What do you most like about a person?

Karthik: Confidence

CC. What do you most hate in a person?

Karthik: Practicing not being judgemental these days. Accepting the way people are gives YOU peace.

CC. Team work vs Individual work – your comments.

Karthik: Depends on the sport we are playing!

CC. Do you make efforts to get others to laugh and smile?

Karthik: Yes I make my efforts. But the rest is not in my hands!!

CC. Your heart rules your head or your head rules your heart?

Karthik: Head rules!

CC. What kind of special talent do you have?

Karthik: Nothing

CC. What are your hobbies?

Karthik: Playing, Reading and Music. Any of these three and I am busy for the whole day!

"You may say that I'm a dreamer but I'm

not the only one, I hope someday you'll

join us and the world

- John Lennon

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 12 10 11 Consultants’ Corner

Parichay Know our Associates!

Altacit Global

Altacit Global is a boutique legal firm specialising in Intellectual Property and Corporate Legal

Matters. They have a strong international flavour in their working practices addressing needs of

individual industry groups.

Altacit Global's Quality Management Systems for the provision of Intellectual Property and Legal

Consulting Services has been certified by the Quality Austria Central Asia as being compliant with

ISO 9001:2008. Their core team consists of professionals who come from multidisciplinary and diverse

backgrounds such as science, engineering, law, chemical, pharmaceutical, medical and business

administration.

Altacit Global invests substantive resources into practice development based on extensive research.

The firm works closely with many Industry Associations and Chambers of Trade and Commerce in

disseminating knowledge. Situated in important cities of Chennai, Bangalore and Coimbatore they are

home to Intellectual Property & Trademark Office [Branch], Intellectual Property Appellate Board,

High Court of Madras, High Court of Karnataka and Indian Geographical Indications Registry.

NCRCL is associated with Altacit Global the past two years and have been jointly involved in

consulting work pertaining to IP and legal Matters. Some interesting projects which included brand

valuation has been successfully completed as a joint venture.

Answer To last month’s Knowledge Snippet question:

In which unit is the speed of computer mouse measured?

Answer: Mickew

Ha Ha Ha !!!

Knowledge Snippet

Happy Birthday!

Which management guru with a background in medicine wrote a book called the "Mechanism of Mind"?

Send in your answers to the editor at cc@ncrcl.com

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.

- Samuel Beckett

U.S.Mohanty - 4th Sep

R.S.Murali - 5th Sep

Roopa Kamath - 22nd Sep

Karthikeyan - 1st Sep

For feedback

If you have any comment/suggestion for the

editors, please write to us at cc@ncrcl.com! Your

views and comments on articles featured here are

also welcome!

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 12 10 11 Consultants’ Corner

Bhavana R - 14th Sep

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