Getting Redundant on World Bank Security (But Still Important!)

In the wake of the Satyam cyber-security scandal, in which GAP played a significant role by exposing that company’s debarment, the World Bank has changed policy and decided to publish the names of companies it debars. From Reuters:

The Bank said the move aligns its disclosure practices for companies involved in wrongdoing that work on development projects financed by the World Bank and those that provide goods and services directly to the institution.

"This change was made in the interest of fairness and transparency," the Washington-based lender said in a statement.

--snip--

It said it debarred Satyam Computer Services…India's fourth-largest software company, for eight years in September 2008, and Wipro Technologies…India's No. 3 software company, for four years in June 2007 both for "improper benefits to bank staff".

In addition, it said it had also barred India's Megasoft Consultants for four years in December 2007 for "participating in a joint venture with Bank staff while conducting business with the Bank".

About time. The World Bank, notorious for its lack of transparency, seems to only move toward openness when it is absolutely forced to do so. This latest move was only made on the heels of investigative stories which prompted the Bank to begrudgingly admit (privately, to GAP) its troubled relationship with Satyam. From the India Times:

World Bank information security chief Robert Van Pulley admitted to the ban during a meeting with the officials of Government Accountability Project (GAP), a whistleblower protection organization in the US. The bank has handed over the case to the US Justice Department and the Treasury Department.

-- Dylan Blaylock

Comments

[bank info]

Hi,

Thanks to the financial and economic crisis, which McAfee's CEO Dave DeWalt at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week twisted into the "global meltdown in vital information", the security industry has found its new public enemy number one: not clumsy insiders who accidentally leak information, but fearful insiders who suspect they're about to become outsiders.