Risk Management

The latest Standard to the be released titled “AS/NZ5050 - Business Continuity Managing disruption-related risk” comes from Standards Australia and arrived just a few months before the US BCM Standard jointly developed by the BSI and ASIS . 

In an interesting departure from established convention the Australia/New Zealand Standard takes different slant on key aspects of the process and connects far more with with risk management principles than others. The Standard itself declares that “the approach (taken) to managing disruption-related risk described in the Standard is through application of AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009, Risk management—Principles and guidelines.”

Business Continuity Forum

The Financial Reporting Council has released its updated corporate governance code which builds and clarifies the responsibility on Listed companies.

The new code applies from 29 June 2010 and applies to those with a Premium Listing regardless of whether they are incorporated in the UK or elsewhere.

Research by Marsh has determined that "British organizations are more concerned during the recession by overseas risks affecting their supply chains and business rather than by threats closer to home."

In its new Business Continuity Management (BCM) survey, "Facing an Uncertain Future," Marsh polled 109 UK firms and public sector organizations to establish their attitudes towards and levels of preparedness for key BCM risks such as terrorism, supply chain disruption and economic conditions.

A view on SOX and the BC Process

In a recent interesting piece by Dr Eric Schmidt of TDS Inc. he explores some of the background of the Sarbanes Oxley and looks at the implications it has for Organisations affected and specifically the impact on Business Continuity Practitioners. He argues persuasively that regulatory initiatives and world events are driving the convergence of business continuity, security and information management under the umbrella of enterprise risk management, sometimes referred to as global assurance.

Managing a Digital Crisis

One thing is certain: A new scandal or crisis always seems to be around the next corner. Yet today, very few brands and celebrities know how to fully leverage the Internet when faced with a public relations crisis.

Recent PR nightmares for JetBlue, Turner Broadcasting, Dell Computers and KFC-Taco Bell demonstrate that as the "social Web" evolves, the focus for brands needs to be less on digital marketing and more on digital brand management.

As risk of disruption rises hedging against fate is essential

In the past five years, businesses have had to deal with September 11, SARS, port strikes, hurricanes, and a possible pandemic. Though planning for low-probability, high-impact events is low on many executives' task list [only 32% have a plan], not planning isn't a strategy. 

While much corporate attention has, over the past several years, been lavished on security - with everything from guards, access control cards and electronic intrusion detection systems now the norm - managing a crisis in the workplace is sometimes neglected.

April 26 2005

Security and privacy concerns are becoming the biggest issue for companies considering outsourcing their IT projects to companies offshore. Analyst house Gartner said that this year concerns about job losses will be overshadowed by these security issues. Gartner research director Ian Marriott commented: "This will become the top issue for companies taking their work to other parts of the world."

Security experts attending the Wireless LAN exhibition found that anonymous hackers in the crowd had created a website that looked like a genuine log-in page for a Wi-Fi network, but which actually sent 45 random viruses to computers that accessed it.

At the heart of a growing industry

By Mark Huband Published: June 24 2005 13:52  

Helping businesses help themselves is no longer the benevolent act it may have seemed in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. A sense of common purpose prevailed as private sector advisers, government agencies and companies themselves sought to address the threat to business operations in the months after the attacks in the US. But in the more than three years that have since passed the roles and outlooks of all forces in the provision of security have changed.

Half of the risk managers who responded to a recent survey believe that the insurance market is softening and that premium rates will reach their lowest point in 2007 and 2008.

Property and casualty rates are anticipated to drop more significantly than D&O and workers compensation, but despite this optimism, only about a third of those surveyed believe that their insurance spending will decrease in 2005 and 2006.

Shares in drugs company Phytopharm fell sharply after animal rights activists scared off its broker.

Canaccord Capital resigned as broker to Phytopharm yesterday – less than a month after a firebomb attack targeted its European finance director.

A website linked to the Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility for planting the incendiary device which set fire to Michael Kendall’s car. The ALF says Phytopharm has links with animal testing group Huntington Life Sciences. HSL is a long-standing target for protesters.