The Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008 brought into sharp focus the lax security measures in the private sector. A survey undertaken by accounting and consulting firm KPMG to review the security measures adopted by corporate India reveals worrisome lacunae.
Over 60 Indian companies took part in the survey — Corporate India and Changing Face of Terrorism, 2009 — to assess the level of security preparedness. The report, which was released today, revealed that while one-fifth of the respondents had conducted a threat analysis, more than half (53 per cent) had not. Only a quarter had a response plan and the rest did not have a security plan or had a “very generic” plan.
A majority of the respondents said the plans were just on paper and that the employees were unaware of it.
The survey found that the companies regarded background verification of employees and perimeter security as the most important aspect of security. Travel (airlines/airports), hospitality and retail were considered more prone to terror attacks.
While 14 per cent of the companies surveyed did not do a background check, 35 per cent said background checks were not undertaken for vendors.
Also, only 39 per cent of the respondents have insurance cover for damages due to terror attacks. While 30 per cent did not have insurance policy cover, “an equal number of respondents were not even aware of such facilities”, said the survey.
The respondents were also found lacking in their capability to recover quickly after an occurrence of a disaster or an extended business interruption, with almost 60 per cent of them saying they would find it a huge challenge to revive quickly if they were to face a security risk on account of terror attacks.
Some of the security measures that have been recommended are “conducting a threat perception analysis for all locations, background checks of employees, training employees for emergency response and engagement with intelligence agencies”. While providing security is the government’s responsibility, the corporate sector, too, must be proactive in securing the employees and assets, notes the survey.
As of now, it’s the government that is first off the blocks to formulate counter-terror measures. Among a slew of steps, on January 10, it promulgated the Central Industrial Security Force (Amendment) Ordinance to amend the CISF Act, 1968, and facilitate the deployment of CISF to secure private sector enterprises.
