[ISN] Data Security, Terrorism Top Executive Worries

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http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml;?articleID=196701706

By Sharon Gaudin
InformationWeek
Dec 22, 2006

More corporate executives are more worried about data security and 
terrorism than anything else, according to a new study.

Sixty-one percent of executives report being most concerned about 
information systems being compromised, and another 55% worry about 
terrorism, according to a Harris Interactive poll that was conducted in 
September. The poll also shows that corporate malfeasance worries about 
40% of executives.

"No business can survive without customer trust," Mike Dabadie, a 
division president at Harris Interactive, said in a written statement. 
"In today's computerized economy, customers trust companies with a lot 
of sensitive personal and financial information. Any breach of data 
security that would compromise that trust can have a devastating impact 
on the company's reputation."

He also added, "The fact that more than five years after 9/11, more than 
half of business leaders are still worried about terrorism is a 
significant thing."

In the poll, only 9% of respondents said they're not worried about data 
security at all, and only 14% said they're not at all worried about 
terrorism.

Thirty-two percent of those polled called environmental mishaps a top 
concern, while 21% said they're highly worried about product recalls and 
19% are highly worried about workforce violence.

So what are they going to do to alleviate those worries?

Forty percent of those polled said they have put in use a crisis 
management plan, and of those executives, 85% said they were either very 
or somewhat satisfied with those plans.

Harris Interactive polled 197 senior executives at large companies in an 
online survey for this study.

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