Disaster Due Diligence March 19, 2010
Natural disasters
HEADLINE: 2010 hurricane season could be 'extreme'
SUMMARY: AccuWeather.com is predicting an active hurricane season, with the chance that it could be “extreme.’’ Among the factors contributing to the forecast: a rapidly weakening El Nino weather phenomenon; warmer temperatures in the ocean region where storms typically form; weakening trade winds; and higher humidity levels.
STORY LINK: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35796810/ns/weather/
ANALYSIS: Most of us saw a colder, wetter winter and are ready for spring and summer. Forecasters indicate the extremes we have seen in weather patterns will continue in the coming months.
Fortunately, we have had less active hurricane seasons the past few years. (By the way, that only matters if you weren’t hit.)
Now, the forecasts look bleak. Fortunately, we know when the season starts and the potential impact areas (Predict). You have time to identify resources, create a plan, train, and work with critical vendors (Plan). I hope you don’t have to Perform this hurricane season, but your preactions can keep a disaster from being more than a disruption for you and your organization.
Predict. Plan. Perform. ™ Are you ready ... for every threat? How do you know?
If you are not 100 percent sure, email or call us and ask for a Firestorm Business Continuity Self-Assessment (audit) of your plan. As a reader of this newsletter, you will receive your Self-Assessment and written analysis for free ($1,500 value).
HEADLINE: Severe Spring floods forecast for upper Midwest, South and East
SUMMARY: The potential for flooding extends beyond the Midwest this spring, as saturated ground and heavy snowmelt will raise normal water levels across the South and East, the National Weather Service warned. The seasonal flooding already has begun in the Dakotas, Minnesota and Iowa, including along the Red River Valley where crests could approach the record levels set last year. "It's a terrible case of déjà vu, but this time the flooding will likely be more widespread," said NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco. "As the spring thaw melts the snowpack, saturated and frozen ground in the Midwest will exacerbate the flooding of the flat terrain and feed rising rivers and streams.’’
STORY LINK: http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/mar2010/2010-03-16-093.html
ANALYSIS: We are already seeing flooding. More widespread floods are predicted.
What are the financial and operational impacts on your company? If you do not have access to your building, how will you function? Are any of your company locations in a flood area? How many of your employees live in a flood area? How many of your critical vendors are in a flood area?
How can predictable events like flooding create a strategic advantage for your company? How can you outperform your competition? What can you do for your customers?
In Mandarin Chinese, the word “crisis’’ is created by combining the symbols for danger and opportunity. Do you see both here? Firestorm can help.
Disaster preparedness
HEADLINE: California not ready for big earthquake, UCLA study says
SUMMARY: A new study commissioned by the California Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) and conducted by UCLA concludes that most state residents have not prepared for a major earthquake, a prospect considered a certainty by most experts. The study reported that less than 20 percent have structurally reinforced their home or purchased earthquake insurance; and only 40 percent have a family disaster plan and keep the recommended stockpile of basic supplies.
STORY LINK: http://www.examiner.com/x-39682-San-Diego-Nonpartisan-Examiner~y2010m3d6-California-not-ready-for-big-earthquake-UCLA-study-says
ANALYSIS: Disaster Denial is far too common to be dismissed as abnormal fear or erratic behavior. Studies and statistics bear out time and again that a large segment of the population does nothing to proactively prepare his/her family or property against disaster loss, damage, and/or injury. Even when approached with compelling information regarding potential risk and pending disaster, the plea for preparedness and mitigation go unheeded.
There are many responses to the “preparedness” question. Many times I’ve heard “those things happen to other people; it won’t happen to me.” Some use more quantitative analyses, such as cost/benefit, present vs. future value and probability. The response I hear most often when I ask people about being prepared for a disaster is “it’s the government’s responsibility to take care of me.” This mindset needs to be changed to one of personal responsibility, not only for oneself but for those within his/her care. We must foster a culture of preparedness.
By not taking personal responsibility to be prepared, first responders and legitimate victims are put at risk because attention can be diverted from those who need it most. By being prepared, having a plan, being self-sustaining for 72 hours, one is taken out of the victim pool and instead becomes a force multiplier to the first responders. This is the message we want to get out.
Preparedness begins with no-cost steps that everyone should take to get ready for any natural or man-made disaster, not just California earthquakes. Learn how to be ready; learn where to get more information; have a family and/or business disaster plan; have essential documents in a safe place or duplicated; keep clean soda bottles full of water; know which blankets to grab if evacuating; have an “emergency zone” in the pantry in order to grab regular inventory food stuffs; and so on.
There is plenty more anyone can do to prepare for disaster with some additional funds and time. Firestorm’s Predict. Plan. Perform. ™ process is a perfect example of how to defeat Disaster Denial and save lives, heartache, frustration and dollars in the long run.
Communicable illness
HEADLINE: Study yields highly pathogenic avian, human flu virus mix
SUMMARY: Human seasonal flu strains that reassort with avian H5 influenza can produce a more pathogenic avian flu strain, highlighting the importance of virus genetic surveillance and the need to protect people who have close contact with birds, researchers reported. The study, conducted at the University of Wisconsin, did not use the pandemic H1N1 virus.
STORY LINK: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/swineflu/news/feb2210hybrid-jw.html
ANALYSIS: Science has long understood that the influenza virus reassorts, or exchanges genetic material to create new strains. Imagine a room full of baseball card collectors. Although you may know what cards an individual holds upon entering the room, it is impossible to predict if the same set of cards will emerge upon that person’s leaving. Different versions of the influenza virus exchange proteins in this same manner. The variance is driven by chance: what strains will interact and will an exchange take place?
The potential to develop into a more virulent and deadly strain has been a major factor in the response to and warnings about H1N1 over the past year. Fortunately, that has not yet occurred. It is important to remember, though, that influenza remains a deadly and highly variable annual occurrence. Guidance to stay home when ill, to practice hand washing and cough etiquette, and to get immunized remains your best bet for staying healthy.
Workplace violence
HEADLINE: Ohio gunman's note: 'Sorry I let you down'
SUMMARY: An Ohio State University custodian shot two supervisors, killing one, days after he was told his probationary employment would soon end. The shootings took place in the university's mechanical building, where all three worked, police said. Reports said a standard employment background check on the custodian failed to show he was in prison from 1979-84 for receiving stolen property.
STORY LINK: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/03/11/Ohio-gunmans-note-Sorry-I-let-you-down/UPI-22171268350470/
ANALYSIS: Workplace violence is the new norm. Unfortunately, stories like this occur every day across the United States.
Most of these events are preceded by warning signals. After these horrific events, individuals and employees come forward and share feelings or concerns that went unreported or acted on prior to prevent the violence from occurring.
OSHA has identified workplace violence as a known hazard. Organizations are required to have a plan. Yet, 70 percent don’t have a plan. What is your plan?
Nationally, 43 percent of the threats and 24 percent of the attacks go unreported. How and to whom are these threats reported today in your company? What is your responsibility if there is an attack? What happens next?
Don’t wait to read a story about workplace violence hitting your company.
Cyber security
HEADLINE: How cybercriminals invade social networks, companies
SUMMARY: With the explosive growth of social networking, cybercriminals have redirected a bulk of their phishing scams — designed to trick you into clicking on an infectious Web link — at unprecedented levels. Once allowed into a corporate network, "botnets" are directed to execute all forms of cybercrime, from petty scams to cyber-espionage.
STORY LINK: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2010-03-04-1Anetsecurity04_CV_N.htm
ANALYSIS: It is apparent that we continue to learn, the hard way, what our brave new world of the Internet, technology, and new services like social networking has in store for us. I commented earlier regarding what kinds of information should, and should not, be part of a Facebook or MySpace page for the world to see. What this article tells us is you should not be putting even innocent details about your life, your friends or your family on line.
The Internet has become something similar to a major city anywhere in the world – there are some places you can go anytime and be comfortable, there are some places you can go if you are careful and understand the dangers, and there may be places you do not ever want to go without, say, a bodyguard.
Social networks can be very useful tools beyond simply staying in contact with friends or celebrities. In fact, as part of a dedicated communications network it can provide a company in the midst of a crisis a way to reach their staff with critical information, or for the staff to provide the company the status of their personal situation. This is especially true when telephone or cell phone communications are disrupted. The key is, the social network must be secure.
This event is an example of the challenge for a company to maintain strict, indeed dictatorial, control of their end-point computing devices. If you put laptops in people’s hands, you have every right to keep absolute control of what goes on them. You also should make it clear to your staff the consequences of breaking the rules. Otherwise you will run the risk, even though it may be innocent, of compromising not only your laptops but proprietary company information.
You may recall the ILOVEYOU virus (if you don’t, look it up on Wikipedia) that showed up in 2000. I had the unenviable privilege of having unleashed that worm on the company I worked for at the time. ILOVEYOU was not malicious in the sense that it did not do damage to a computer or a network. It simply replicated itself by sending the same message to everyone on an Outlook address book. It was malicious to the extent it tied up our computer technicians for about a week. More interesting was the fact that I got that message from the CIO of a major bank. The moral of the story is that even from a trusted source, you can experience a breach of your systems unless you are employing the latest defenses, using strict security measures, and aggressively controlling your company’s information infrastructure.
Preparedness groups
Join Firestorm’s LinkedIn groups and help build a Culture of Preparedness for your family and organization:
DISASTER READY PEOPLE: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1914314&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1898572&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr
COMMUNICABLE ILLNESS: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1899278&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr
SWINE FLU: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1921222&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr
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