Banks face bird flu threat

Financial services organisations are being urged to improve their crisis management and disaster recovery plans to protect their businesses in case of an outbreak of bird flu, reports Silicon.

Analysts are predicting that IT execs are "ideally placed" to help firms plan their response to any potential outbreak.

Analyst firm Gartner is urging businesses to prepare continuity programmes so they can react in the event of an outbreak. Ritchie Jeune, group CEO for Evolution Security Systems, which works with banks in Hong Kong, said having small contingency teams already set up to work remotely is essential.

The trend in Singapore is for businesses to do more on their own to step up security and come up with continuity plans for their organisations, reports Channel NewsAsia.

The country`s deputy prime minister and coordinating national security minister, Professor Jayakumar reminded the business community that they are a vital pillar of the government`s community engagement framework to ensure business and economic continuity in the event of a terror attack.

An SMS initiative is planned to extend to the 63 security watch groups in more than 400 buildings island-wide to make it easier for the police to update those in any vicinity or area in the event of an emergency.

A UK-based telephone company CEO aims to offer business continuity for companies across the world, reports This is Guernsey.

GemaTech, a company that designs and develops telephone -business continuity and voice recording products is to offer a rerouting service in the event of a business communication breakdown, which could be caused by fire, flood, terrorism attack or an influenza pandemic.

Its UK operation is based in Basingstoke but as its 14-strong workforce practised the company philosophy, most worked from other locations.