To address issues relating to Net security, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) is launching the WebTrust Seal services in the country through its associates in Mumbai - Knav Consulting, an audit firm. The CPA WebTrust Seal, a worldwide leader in certification systems, symbolises credibility and trust.

"Developed in early 1997 by the AICPA and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) and partnered with VeriSign to develop the technical components, it sets the standards of security on the World Wide Web," Knav Consulting director Vaibhav Manek told The Financial Express.
At present, the services are available in countries like the US, Australia, the UK, Malaysia, and Japan. Knav will unveil the programme in India by the last week of February. It is learnt that Christopher J Leach, author of the CPA WebTrust Programme and vice-chair for the AICPA e-commerce assurance service task force, will be in India on February 28 to address leaders of infotech and e-commerce firms.

The cost of obtaining the CPA Web Trust Seal will depend on a number of factors, including the complexity of a Website, the extent of transactions processed by the Website as well as other conditions. "We may charge about $5,000 to $10,000 per quarter," Manek added.

The CPA WebTrust Seal indicates that several areas, including business practices, disclosures, transaction integrity and information protection have been examined and certified by the institute. "The seal lends credibility to online businesses, levelling the playing field for competition and providing the assurance that Websites displaying the seal meet high standards of security, privacy and legitimacy," he said.

The association claims that CPA WebTrust is the only comprehensive seal programme that requires an onsite examination of a Website by an independent and qualified third party.