Indian firms participating in a global telecom security conference in New Delhi said they were installing multiple layers of protection to address western companies' concerns about security issues including data privacy.

"The brains that try and crack security codes are brilliant so we need to stay one step ahead," said S. D. Saxena of state-run telecom service provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited.

"We realise there is global business at stake. Therefore, we have created a highly secure system to safeguard our customers," Saxena said.

Pankaj Mittal, chief technology officer of Delhi-based ClearTrail Technologies, said software could automatically block out 90 percent of cyber attacks.

"Indian firms are developing good, cost-competitive lawful surveillance software to track down hackers. Some Indian firms have teamed up with US and European firms to come up with virus scanning and security products," Mittal said.

India's revenues from outsourcing are forecast to grow about 40 percent in this financial year to 5.1 billion dollars.

The flow of jobs into India from the United States and Europe has led to an outcry from western labour unions, which have charged that work processed in the developing world could pose security risks.

"India is aware of these concerns and is working towards addressing them. We were one of the first countries in the world to adopt an Information Technology Act," said Shymal Ghosh, a top civil servant in the ministry of communications and IT.

"But we have to understand that laws can take care of certain things but human ingenuity exceeds the law," he said.

India's cyber transactions act came into effect in 2000 making hacking a crime punishable by three years in jail.

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