Vishal Dhupar is probably the best golfer-managing director in the country, with a handicap of 5 on the course. He also enjoys the reputation of being a natty dresser, who is also a fitness freak and a great disciplinarian thanks to his military background. A complete corporate package, if you like.
The managing director of Symantec India, has made good use of the golf course, to further his career?a trick many of his peers are only learning now. His first job with DCM was through a chance meeting with a mentor on the greens and his job at Sun Microsystems also came on the golf course, this time Bhaskar Pramanik taking a liking to the youthful bloke.
But he is no less a star than an international golf player. Vishal has a 15-hour work schedule and is on the move all the time. ?My schedule is very tight. But I have no complaints. I have worked very hard to reach here,? says Vishal. Prior to Symantec, he was the managing director at Autodesk at the young age of 39. And he was always the blue-eyed boy everywhere he went. ?It helps to be able to create a great team under you. You are only as good as your team.?
His brief at Symantec is to exceed business targets. And that was never an issue with Vishal. ?Except the first 150 days of work in my career when I could not make a sale, I have never ever struggled. I was considered a natural salesman.?
At Autodesk, he led the Indian operations as managing director for the Autodesk Design Solutions Group (DSG) business in the Saarc region.
At Sun Microsystems, he was the general manager responsible for the manufacturing and energy sectors and soon he was elevated to the level of director. During his six years at Sun, Vishal was one of the few Sun employees to have won the coveted Sunrise Award, a reward for the top performers across the world, five years in a row.
Vishal thinks playing golf has played a large role in shaping his personality. He grew up watching his parents play golf, and his dad gifted him a complete golf set at the age of 14. ?I wanted to play gold professionally. But there were not too many tournaments back then. And soon it became clear to me that I had to excel in academics to succeed.?
He also married young. ?I was really impressed the very first time I saw Ruchika. And while I was thinking about her as a life partner, my parents who knew her through some family friends suggested that we get engaged.?
But today Symantec keeps him on his toes. ?My work consumes a lot of time, and sometimes I wish I could devote more time to the family. But that?s the nature of the job and I have to deal with it.?
India is ranked first in the Asia-Pacific and Japan region and third highest in the world as the originating country of spam and phishing. India also ranked second for the origin of Web-based attacks in the region, contributing 16%, after China, which accounted for 37% of the total attacks. Similarly, 28% of spam zombies (bots) in the region or 6% of the world reside in India while 7% of the regional phishing hosts are located in the Indian sub-continent.
More and more Indian websites are coming under threat from attackers and face the fear of getting defaced. In the first half of 2010, around 4,300 websites were reported to have been defaced in India.
This threat has assumed significance in light of the fact that Indian companies are now increasing their online presence and tapping consumers through social networking sites. As a result, every vertical faces a potential threat, say experts from RSA, the security division of EMC and Symantec India.
Symantec?s State of Enterprise Security Survey 2010 revealed that on an average, Indian enterprises lost Rs 58 lakh in revenue due to cyber attacks in 2009. ?For most companies that want to establish a prominent online presence, website defacement can result in major setbacks for them. This is especially true for government organisations, or organisations in the BFSI sector or even in the online retail segment. No matter how the websites are defaced, it can cause significant losses for companies in terms of revenues and/or customer trust,? Vishal had said when the report was revealed recently.
Any website with a good reach can be a potential target, regardless of the nature of the website. If the attacks are motivated by fame, the higher the traffic to a website, the more alluring it is as a target. From government to entertainment and media, popular websites are the preferred choice, says Vishal.
Symantec?s Internet Security Threat Report XV revealed that 91% of phishing attacks in 2009 were on the financial sector. Apart from banking,
social networking sites can also be attacked to steal private information, since these websites are extremely popular.
?The intense nature of the work involved keeps me on my toes. Still I try to exercise 4-5 days a week. Fitness is such an important aspect these days. I am up at 5.30 am to sweat it out. To wear some good clothes, it always helps to keep fit, isn?t it?? he asks. Can?t fight that.