by Rebecca Walker — January 5, 2009—Security Director News embarked on an annual survey to determine what risks security practitioners are most concerned about in 2009. While acts of terrorism dominated headlines in 2008, only 24 percent said they were primarily concerned about terrorism. Instead, 49 percent reported that workplace violence topped their security concerns and 27 percent were primarily concerned about intellectual property theft.
Projected economic conditions for 2009 are contributing largely to heightened security concerns within the United States, specifically concerns about workplace violence, said John Dowd, senior account manager for Kratos Defense and Security Solutions.
“With the domestic issues we have in this country, both economically and financially, concerns about workplace violence far outweigh and is more prevalent than threats of terrorism,” he said. “If companies aren’t taking security seriously, they’re in for a rude awakening when they see a spike in workplace violence” in the next 12 to 18 months, Dowd predicted.
Protecting against workplace violence involves a combination of technology, training and follow-up by management, Dowd said. “Training and follow-up is a real hole in the process because there’s no training and context for employees as to why they should implement security measures,” he said.
Dowd also recommended companies implement periodic background checks for all employees, something he said less than 5 percent of companies employ.
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