New research from G4S Security Services reveals that the majority of security industry professionals (72%) would not be confident in relying upon technology alone as an effective security solution. Only 28% said they would be very confident in depending solely on CCTV and access control systems.

While 71% of security industry professionals have implemented disaster recovery and Business Continuity Plans (BCPs), a worrying 14% of organisations do not have a BCP and a further 14% did not even know whether they had such a plan or not. A third of businesses (33%) review their BCP on an annual basis and 29% conduct an assessment if and when the need arises. 86% of security professionals felt that the public sector should play a greater role in communicating and identifying risks to businesses.

The single greatest threats to business by 2010 according to security industry professionals are:
1 Staff crime (theft, fraud etc)
2 IT/ network crime (computer hacking etc)
=3 Suicide bombing
=3 CBRNE attack (including dirty bomb)
=3 Direct action groups
=3 Disruption to infrastructure links
=3 Disruption to communications

Douglas Greenwell, Marketing Director of G4S Security Services (UK) said: “The turn of the century has seen an ever expanding range of threats to UK businesses. Although it is encouraging that the majority of businesses have disaster recovery and BCPs within their business models, too many companies are ill-prepared. Each business is unique and has its own set of threats to assess and manage. A thorough risk assessment of the establishment should be conducted on a regular basis and not left until it is too late.”

He concluded: “While terrorism is a high profile risk facing UK organisations, businesses are realising the need to identify the threats that are more likely to have a direct impact on their operation. Businesses should be kept well informed by the police and the government so they can be best prepared to mitigate the risks facing them. It is the individual organisation’s responsibility, however, to implement effective security processes and solutions within the businesses.”