Tony Blair should take personal responsibility, says the
Confederation of British Industry
The prime minister should take personal responsibility for
persuading businesses to plan effectively to deal with the growing
risk of terrorist attacks in the UK, following the train bombings
in Madrid, employers said this week.
The Confederation of British Industry is calling on Tony Blair to
raise the profile of business continuity planning, in particular by
offering help to small and medium-sized firms that play a vital
role in the UK's supply chain, said Jeremy Beale, head of the
e-business unit at the CBI.
The call came amid growing concerns that a major terrorist attack
could leave businesses or their suppliers without access to vital
computer systems or could cause disruption to internet
communications.
John Handby, chief executive of CIO Connect, the chief information
officers network, said many large companies were already reviewing
security in the light of growing terrorist threats.
Beale said it was vital for the government to encourage firms to
review their IT business continuity plans and encourage their key
suppliers to do the same, following the Madrid bombings.
"There is a need for business continuity to be enunciated at the
highest level. A lot of government officials are working away
trying to get companies to act, but government at the highest
levels should indicate what businesses should be doing," he
said.
"It has to be more than Tony Blair making an announcement - it has
to be linked to a set of government actions."
John Sharp, chief executive of the Business Continuity Institute,
the UK's leading authority on continuity planning, urged the prime
minister to galvanise firms that were failing to take continuity
planning seriously.
Research by the BCI and the Chartered Management Institute earlier
this month shows that only half of all firms and one third of small
businesses have contingency plans for terrorist attacks or
disasters.
The chief information officer of one large business based in
central London said the Madrid bombings had spurred it to rethink
its emergency planning.
A terrorist incident such as a dirty bomb or a chemical attack
could leave computer systems inaccessible for months or years, he
told Computer Weekly. "Bombing a train in an urban environment is
much closer to home than flying a plane into the twin towers: 9/11
was a wake-up call, but Madrid much more so," he said.
Although larger firms generally have well-rehearsed business
continuity plans, there are concerns that smaller suppliers may be
only paying lip service.
Ben Booth, IT director at polling organisation Mori, said his firm
insists that its key suppliers have effective business continuity
plans in place before awarding contracts.
The trend is being followed by other large firms, which are asking
suppliers to show that they have plans in place and that they test
them regularly, said Ray Titcombe, chairman of the IBM Computer
Users Association.
Last week, David Omand, head of the joint intelligence committee,
warned that Al Qaeda terrorists were already being trained in
hacking and would seek to cause disruption by attacking computer
networks. They will target softer economic targets as security is
stepped up elsewhere.
Disaster planning
Local authorities will be required to work with local businesses to
help them develop business continuity plans under the Civil
Contingencies Bill, which is currently being debated by
Parliament.
The Bill, which will give government agencies legal powers to take
necessary action in the event of a national emergency, is part of a
series of measures to meet the threat of terrorism.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is funding the roll-out to
a network of regional resilience teams, which will raise awareness
about continuity planning.
The teams will be modelled on the London Resilience Team, which has
run a series of events and conferences to raise awareness.
www.londonprepared.gov.uk