SACIA Releases Survey Results

STAMFORD — SACIA, The Business Council of Southwestern Connecticut, has just released results from a survey of regional business leaders on impacts of international events, such as the Iraqi war, on-going conflicts in the Middle East, and the outbreak of SARS, on company travel policies and on cyber security.

From email response protocol, to travel impact, to employee personal and computer risk assessments, area companies are addressing security issues as they relate to their businesses. The survey was sent to 52 members of SACIA’s Security & Crisis Management Leaders Network, in a variety of functions, within 23 companies. The response rate was 30 percent.

Among the responses, by a 2 to 1 margin, security managers favored less rather than more information about out-of-office status in emails and voice mail greetings. While a small number favored giving no information of all, most of the “less disclosure” respondents cited needs to be responsive to client and business needs as a reason for generic “out of the office” message, with no mention of travel plans, and an “immediate assistance” contact provided.

Close to 27 percent of travel plans were affected by the war in Iraq, and 23 percent were affected by the outbreak of SARS. Closer to home, slightly less than half reported that the company provides cybersecurity “house calls” to set up and test secure home systems. Finally, 13 percent of the respondents stated EAP usage was unchanged from the months of March to April, six percent reported increased usage, with the balance reporting unknown usage.

“SACIA’s Security & Crisis Management Leaders Network was organized in 2002, to respond to the needs of the area’s businesses. The group meets regularly to share ideas and best practices, as well as for dialogues with state and local officials and emergency responders in order to respond to needs that extend beyond traditional building perimeters,” stated Christopher Bruhl, president and CEO, SACIA, The Business Council. Sharing of information, cooperative training efforts, and informed public sector readiness assessments are among the advantages the group has benefited from to date.