Business Impact Assessment: The Emperor’s New Clothes? by Andrew Hiles, FBCI


Written by Phil on June 18, 2009 in Business Continuity, Risk Management.

A Business Impact Assessment (BIA) stems from a Risk Assessment (RA) that is, at best, subjective - no matter how many decimal places it is calculated to, it depends on the balance of experience of the risk assessor (experience of a particular risk happening makes it seem more likely to happen again); on insurance statistics, emergency services data, past incidents etc. These statistics usually provide averages: if your feet are in the freezer and your head is in the fire, your average temperature is fine. But it isn’t very comfortable. These averages have little direct relevance to me, here, now.

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Special Offer: Risk Management Approach to Business Continuity, $30 off!


Written by Phil on June 16, 2009 in Books, Business Continuity, Promo, Risk Management, Special Offers.

For a limited time, we are offering Business Survival(tm) subscribers $30.00 off the $95.00 price of the valuable book Risk Management Approach to Business Continuity by David Kaye and Julia Graham (until June 30, 2009) - that’s only $65.00!

Endorsed by the Business Continuity Institute, Institute for Risk Management, and Disaster Recovery Institute International. “This book is a must read for those senior managers, risk managers and continuity managers who have the vision to see both the new opportunities and the new responsibilities of business continuity management.” - George J. Mitchell, Chairman, DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary; Former Senate Majority Leader and U.S. Senator for Maine.

AND - if you order two or more copies, we will ship for FREE! (U.S. standard shipping, or the equivalent discount on non-US or express shipping orders).

To get your discount, just place your order through our secure checkout by clicking on “Add to Cart” below.

PLUS - if you become a registered subscriber to our Business Survival(tm) Weblog before placing your order, we will give you an additional $5.00/book discount! Just go to http://www.rothstein.com/blog/wp-login.php?action=register to register, and note “BLOG REGISTERED” in the “Comments” field at checkout for your additional discount. Once registered, you will be eligible for additional discount offers and unique content exclusively offered to registered subscribers!

Email info@rothstein.com or call us at 203.740.7444 (or 1-888-ROTHSTEin - that’s 1-888-768-4783) if you have any questions or prefer ordering by email or phone.

[Note: the shipping discount and Registered User discount will be taken off after your order is placed and won't appear on the confirmation screen at checkout].

Aon Political Risk Map: Political Stability Next Victim of Credit Crunch


Written by Phil on June 11, 2009 in Business Continuity, Crisis Management and Crisis Communication, Risk Management, disaster preparedness.

2009 will see the political consequences of the global credit crunch start to have an impact, according to the 16th annual Political Risk Map from Aon Risk Services, a division of Aon Corporation.

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RIMS Publishes Paper on ERM Tech Solutions


Written by Paul Kirvan on May 7, 2009 in Business Continuity, Risk Management.

The turmoil in the financial industry has brought a greater awareness of enterprise risk management (ERM) and the technologies that risk practitioners use to implement ERM programs.   The Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) recently published an executive report titled Enterprise Risk Management Technology Solutions to help risk managers identify and evaluate appropriate technology system functionality for their ERM practices.

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Report: Cybercriminals have penetrated U.S. electrical grid


Written by Phil on April 22, 2009 in Risk Management, disaster preparedness.

Cyperspies from China, Russia and elsewhere have gained access to the U.S. electrical grid and installed malware tools that could be used to shut down service, according to a story published by The Wall Street Journal.

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Unforeseen Impact of the Economic Meltdown


Written by Phil on April 16, 2009 in Business Continuity, Crisis Management and Crisis Communication, InfoSecurity, Risk Management, disaster preparedness.

“Without question, 2008 was an eventful year for major financial institutions, with massive losses, questions of solvency and, ultimately, government bailouts now totaling over a trillion dollars. The corporate fire sales, downsizing and mergers now commonplace in the financial industry are a cause for not only serious concern about the health of our economy, but also concerns relating to the security of personal and financial data.”

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BSI Launches Self-Assessment Tool To Help In Preparedness


Written by Phil on April 16, 2009 in Business Continuity, Risk Management, Standards.

BSI British Standards launched a new online self-assessment tool which enables any organization to evaluate its business continuity management (BCM) provisions, testing strengths and probing for weak spots.

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Survey: Chartered Management Institute releases BCM 2009 report


Written by Phil on April 8, 2009 in Business Continuity, Risk Management.

The UK-based Chartered Management Institute has released an important report, A Decade of Living Dangerously: Business Continuity Management Report 2009.

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Case Study: Euroclear Bank applies BCM framework to manage impact of Lehman Brothers collapse


Written by Phil on March 31, 2009 in Business Continuity, Risk Management.

The collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 occurred just two months after Euroclear Bank had run a major exercise to test such an occurrence. Euroclear’s application of the Business Continuity Management framework, specifically the tools and exercise methodology, to its core financial business contributed to an effective response to the impact of this financial crisis.

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RIMS: Enterprise Risk Management Could Have Mitigated Financial Crisis


Written by Paul Kirvan on February 27, 2009 in Risk Management.

The Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) recently issued a white paper entitled: The 2008 Financial Crisis: A Wake-up Call For Enterprise Risk Management, which reports that ERM could have ”identified and mitigated losses” for many of the entities affected.

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Watch Out for IT Administrators Going ‘Rogue’


Written by Paul Kirvan on February 17, 2009 in Disaster Recovery, InfoSecurity, Risk Management.

Tough economic times usually mean that businesses need to look at reducing costs.   Typically, a company’s largest overhead - especially in the IT space - will be its staff.   IT managers may want to think twice before shrinking headcount in their department.   A recent survey by Cyber-Ark highlighted that 88 per cent of IT administrators would steal passwords and valuable data from the network if they unexpectedly lost their jobs.

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