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It is easy to operate a business in a stable environment. Businesses can ignore a few risks because they know that in the grand scheme of things, they will be fine. However, a crisis like the current coronavirus outbreak completely changes the equation. Businesses are currently reeling from the impact of the outbreak because they cannot cope up with the dynamic nature of this emerging risk. 

The coronavirus outbreak’s risk is something known as the black swan in the world of statistics. The story

Virtually all cyber exposure programs today are directed at addressing the cyber exposures an organization faces from its own resources and activities and from outside sources. This is necessary but not sufficient.

Why? Because most organizations also face secondary cyber exposures that they are neither aware of nor prepared to address. For example, many organizations do not manage, or own their own properties but inhabit facility space managed by someone else. That someone, generally a building

Now that vacation time is over in the Northern Hemisphere. Did you relax? Unwind? Clear your mind?

Well I sure hope so because the cyber predators have been setting new clickable traps, and sending devious emails to greet you on your return. Also, in your absence cyber predators continued to launch millions of attacks daily across the globe. And many involve ransomware.

The emergence of ransomware is simple to explain. It can be obtained free or easily made. It has a high success rate and generate

If you are like most of us, you probably have a password, antivirus program, and a firewall for your home computer to protect it from hackers. Are you doing the same thing for your phone?

From 2015 to 2016 malware infections on smartphones swelled by 96%, and about 71% of the smartphones out there do not have any software at all to protect them. What does that mean for you? It means the odds are against you when it comes to getting your phone hacked. Luckily, there are some things you can do to p

Ruben Cohen is an operational risk consultant. He has been working in the financial industry for over 17 years, with most of the last 10 in operational risk analytics at Citi.
Prior to that, Ruben spent 10 years on the faculty of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science at Rice University in Houston, specializing in Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics. He holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from M.I.T. and has subsequently obtained an M.A. in Economics from McGill University.
Ruben is based

Operational risk management is currently on the end of a major shakeup. Ever since the announcement of Basel III banks have been working within a paradigm that pushes towards either TSA or AMA approaches (standardised and advanced approaches respectively). At the end of 2015, however, the Basel Committee shocked firms by announcing that they were doing away with this, and replacing it with the SMA – a new standardized approach that would be the norm for all banks. This is having huge ramificatio

Back in August of 2015, we discussed a vulnerability in Android’s operating system that put both personal and professional data at risk. This is just one example of the fact that improved technologies, while vital to continued growth, can bring with them serious cyber risks.

The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2016 reflects this idea. The report “examines the interconnections among the risks,” which multiply as technology improves.

According to The Huffington Post, “our cyber dependence

Well, we certainly can’t blame Dennis Nicholl for breaking the law. Frankly, had I been nearby him when he did it, I would have kept silent and let him continue breaking the law—unless, of course, I was engaged in some loud, planet-moving discussion with a world leader.

Nicholl, 63, was recently on a Chicago subway train. He brought with him a cell phone jammer. Unfortunately for Nicholl that day, Keegan Goudie was on the same train. Goudie is a blogger, noticed the infraction and began blogging

Between half and three quarters of all employees have downloaded personal apps to company tablets and phones, according to surveys. At the same time, people are increasingly using use personal phones for work purposes like email, document-sharing and the list goes on.

What does it all mean? Companies must take extra precautions to ensure that sensitive data doesn’t get into the wrong hands.

Protecting your data

Fortunately, there are several steps that a business owner can take to protect the infor

If you don’t want your smartphone to know more about you than you do, here are top choices, as detailed on gizmodo.com:

BlackPhone 2

• The Blackphone 2 will black out the federal government from spying on you.
• Has a five inch handset with full HD screen (with Gorilla Glass 3 that prevents shoulder surfing).
• 3 GB or RAM
• Its Silent Circle’s PrivateOS 1.1 provides a “Spaces” UI: Data will be encrypted and compartmentalized.
• The “Spaces” allow you to set up distinct spaces for different types of data, inclu

Douglas Hubbard, in his book "The Failure of Risk Management", claims that risk management failed us in the lead up to the GFC because of flawed risk models, the use of qualitative risk assessment through the use of risk matrices or both. He contends that anything can be measured and that we should be measuring.

The case for quantification
There is no doubt in my mind that quantification is better than using our best judgement because our minds are at the mercy of our psychological biases. A coup

Risk and Issue are two words that are often confused when it comes to their usage. Actually there is some difference between them. The word ‘risk’ is used in the sense of ‘chance’. On the other hand, the word ‘issue’ is used in the sense of ‘matter’.

Uh-Oh!  This is a show-stopper.  We can’t complete the project on time because the server needed won’t be available for another month! What can we do now?

This is not a new problem for Project Managers to have encountered. Is this a risk or an issue? 

While the Davos event kicks on in the background, something worth taking a look at are the reports that have been released on the World Economic Forum's website.

The Insight Report on Global Risks 2012 (seventh edition) is an excellent and well pulled together paper.

Follow this link for more

Tony Ridley

Volcanos that erupt and disrupt the world’s travel plans don’t happen every day but travel disruptions and threats to travelers do. It often takes a dynamic or amplified event to display just how much planning and oversight goes into day-to-day risk management, in order to reveal just how ineffective the process may be overall.

Travel buyers have admitted that the volcano eruption in Iceland has taken a substantial bite out of their 2010 travel budget, if a new survey is to be believe