Within the past five years, 80% of businesses in the United States experienced one or more unexpected events that caused a significant disruption in "business as usual." The unexpected disruptions come in many forms, such as natural disasters, cyberattacks or workplace violence. Over the last five years, winter storms/extreme cold (38%), loss of power due to blackouts or brownouts (34%), and loss of internet/phone service (31%) were the most frequently cited reasons for interruptions.
Looking to the next three to five years, more than one-half (51%) of organizations anticipate that a cyberattack (such as denial-of-service attacks; data and property destruction; business disruption; and theft of proprietary data, intellectual property and/or sensitive financial and strategic information) could negatively impact their organization, followed by loss of internet/phone service (44%), loss of power (43%), and winter storms and extreme cold (43%).
Organizations are aware of the risks presented by the whole spectrum of potential threats. They employ a wide variety of measures to prevent and/or mitigate the impact of emergencies as well as ensure that their workers know what to do when something occurs.
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