Employee-related security concerns top list of business threats

May 1, 1999 12:00 PM, GEORGE PARTINGTON

Workplace violence is the most important security threat to America's largest corporations, followed closely by crisis management.So says the sixth-annual survey of Fortune 1000 security executives conducted by Pinkerton's Inc., Westlake Village, Calif. The report, "Top Security Threats Facing Corporate America," highlights increased concerns about employee-related threats, rather than "external" threats.

Workplace violence jumped from the number two concern last year to the top spot.Each year, more than 2 million people become victims of violent crime at work, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. "Research on workplace violence reveals that as many as two-thirds of these violent acts are preceded by behavioral 'red flags,' and might have been prevented had coworkers or management acted on their observations or instincts," says Louis A. Tyska, CPP, senior managing director of Pinkerton Consulting and Investigations.

"While workplace violence cannot be prevented entirely, an integrated program of safeguards can help reduce the threat and minimize damage and business disruption when they occur," says Tyska. Among these pre-emptive measures are pre-employment selection procedures to identify "high-risk" applicants, 24-hour employee communication hotlines to enable employees to confidentially report concerns, and access controls (card keys, photo ID badges, video surveillance) to restrict or monitor entry or movement of employees and visitors.Other noteworthy findings of the survey:- Crisis management and executive protection rose to the second-highest concern, compared to number 7 last year.- Among security executives in service businesses, hardware/software theft was considered the top security threat.- Retailers identified employee theft as their biggest concern.- Reflecting increasing perceptions of corporate security as a strategic function, 85 percent of security directors report either to the CEO or executive-level management.- Eighty-three percent of respondents expect security funding to either increase or hold stable in the year ahead, largely influenced by management's "prevailing perception of risk."For its annual survey, Pinkerton mailed written questionnaires to 1,121 security directors and other executives having oversight responsibility for corporate security at Fortune 1000 companies. A total of 269 (24 percent) were returned.

The top 10 security concerns

1. Workplace violence 2. Crisis management/executive protection 3. Fraud/white-collar crime 4. Employee screening 5. Hardware/software theft 6. General employee theft 7. Internet/intranet security 8. Drugs in the workplace 9. Unethical business conduct 10. Property crimes (external theft, vandalism)

Source: Pinkerton's 1999 survey of Fortune 1000 security exectuives

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