Almost half of the directors questioned in the survey predicted that risks would rise in 2005, with the biggest threats coming from intellectual property theft (50%), computer crime (47%), insolvency of clients or suppliers (46%) and internal and external fraud (37%).
"Increased business activity is increasing risks by taking companies into unfamiliar places, new relationships with clients and suppliers, or new technology," said Andrew Marshall, director of strategy at Kroll.
Directors are most concerned about loss of revenue (24%) and damage to IT systems (22%). Intellectual property, company reputation and staff were all seen as being at risk (14%, 13% and 12% respectively). In response to the perceived threats, companies are moving to increase IT security (52%), researching their business partners and clients (47%) and putting new controls in place (36%).
"Directors know what keeps them awake at night and are moving to reduce these risks," said Marshall.
