The terrorism challenge

The foiled terrorism plot in Germany proves that homegrown terrorism is still rife and businesses still need to be vigilant, according to Aon's crisis management team.

Justin Priestley, executive director at the insurance broker and risk management consultant, says businesses can't afford to be complacent.

"The plot proves that terrorist activity is still bubbling underneath the surface even if a country has not suffered an actual attack. The failed attack on Glasgow airport in June reinforces this. It highlights the trend for more disjointed terrorism efforts from individuals who may not have past links to such activities. Positively, it's demonstrated that terrorist activity is on the radar of the security services," he says

It makes it impossible to predict who a terrorist could be and everyone from the government to businesses should be involved in helping to pick up signs of a possible attack.

"Terrorists are most vulnerable in the months of planning leading up to an attack and it's during this reconnaissance period when colleagues, for example, would be most likely to notice suspicious activity," says Priestley.

All businesses, be they German or in the UK, must assess the threat of terrorism by reviewing the following says Priestley:

1 Which countries do we operate in? Have they experienced actual or planned terrorist attacks?

2 Are you in a vulnerable sector such as pharmaceutical, transport, infrastructure, hotels?

3 Are you located near key threats such as an American embassy or an airport?

4 What are the likely forms of attack: for example vehicle or suicide attack?

From this point, companies can introduce suitable mitigating measures and then quantify the cost of the impact including physical damage and to reputation. Businesses need to protect themselves through both robust risk management and risk transfer.

Priesley adds: "The plot discovery is unlikely to have any impact on terrorism insurance rates as there hasn't actually been an incident. Germany also has a terrorism pool, Extremus, which operates in a similar way to the UK's Pool Re."