London chamber of commerce Flashcards
Source: www.londonchamber.co.uk/docimages/754.pdf
The Economic Effects of Terrorism on London – Experiences of Firms in London’s Business Community.
Press & Public Affairs
London Chamber of Commerce and Industry August 2005
Despite significant disruption to the capital’s transport network and the tragic loss of 52 lives, in every case businesses had resumed normal operation within two working days at most.
The example of the 2004 Madrid bombings shows that a city can swiftly bounce back from attacks on a similar scale to 7/7 and that the economic cost can be relatively short-term, even in the terrorism-sensitive tourism sector.
Other firms are now spending money to update their existing contingency plans. One City law firm said that its existing plans dealt with an attack on their building but not the knock-on effects of disruption elsewhere in the economy. It should not be assumed that small businesses in particular are in a position to shoulder these costs lightly.
Terrorism in London
London is no stranger to terrorism and bombings. As early as 1867 the Fenians, an Irish separatist group, detonated a bomb at Clerkenwell Prison, killing twelve people and injuring more than a hundred. Between 1883 and 1885 the Fenians waged a wider terrorist campaign in London.
IRA attacks on London 1971-88
Tower of London (1974) Post Office Tower (1971) House of Commons (1974 and 1979), Hyde Park (1982), Old Bailey (1971) home of former Prime Minister Edward Heath (1974). Commercial targets included Harrods (1973 and 1983) Oxford Street (1974 and 1981).
IRA ‘Balcombe Street Gang’
mid-1974 until December 1975 a four-man IRA cell 18 months campaign Balcome street siege (6 days) Hilton Hotel in Park Lane, Walton’s restaurant in Chelsea Scott’s Oyster Bar in Mayfair. Abortive attack on the Ritz, assassination of Guinness Book of World Records co- founder Ross McWhirter pub bombings for which the Guildford Four were wrongly jailed.
IRA attacks on centres of commercial and economic activity, 1988-2001
London Stock Exchange (1990) Baltic Exchange (1992), Oxford Street (1991 and 1992), Bishopsgate (1993) Canary Wharf (1996)
the IRA targeted shopping centres in Blackpool (1991), Warrington (1993) and Manchester (1996).
London Stock Exchange 1990
Andrew Hugh Smith, said: “If the purpose of this callous act was to bring the City to a halt, they have failed singularly; our systems and services have functioned perfectly, and training has continued as normal.”
Bishopsgate April 1993
Largest cost prior to 9/11
insurance cost of $907 million, The full cost of the Bishopsgate attack was much higher as it inflicted extensive damage to Liverpool Street station.
IRA attacks on the transport system
During a 48 hour period in September 1973 bombs were detonated at Euston, King’s Cross and Victoria stations injuring 21 people.
In another 48-hour period, in March 1976, bombs were detonated on a train at Cannon Street and a tube train at West Ham, killing one and wounding nine.
A third device was defused at Oxford Circus Underground station.
Paddington and Victoria train stations in 1991
two consecutive Mondays by detonating a device on an overland line in South London
incendiary devices on tube trains at Harrow
Neasdon stations a week later.
1992 an incendiary device was found on a tube at Elephant and Castle depot
bombs were detonated at London Bridge mainline station Hampstead tube.
The following year South Kensington tube station was targeted. The national transport network was severely disrupted in 1997
Transport spokes person
transport commentator Christian Wolmar has said: “In the days of the IRA bombs, Londoners generally continued to work normally and it is to be hoped that they so again after these ghastly outrages.” (‘We have to make sure the system stays open’, Daily Express, 8 July 2005).
IRA v Islamic terrorism
Paul Wilkinson, chairman of the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at the University of St. Andrews recently pointed out that “We are dealing with a completely different level of severity. July 7 wasn’t the kind of thing the IRA would attempt. They did tend to give warnings” (Cited in ‘London Security Reaches Tightest Ever, Surpassing Era of IRA’, Royal United Services Institute, 2 August 2005)
economic effects of terrorism
September 11th 2001 - London July 2005
4,500 New York businesses were destroyed or seriously disrupted.
economic impact of the attacks on the New York economy, estimated in November 2001 to reach as much as $83 billion (The Century Foundation, Economic Impact of terrorist Attack, May 13 2002)
significant longer-term economic repercussions in terms of business relocation, loss of tax revenue, fall in property values, a drop in tourism and its impact on the retail, hotel and leisure industries.
2002 it was estimated that the New York City Finance Department would collect $200 million less in property taxes than in the previous fiscal year, with the World Trade Center responsible for $70 million of the loss.
Business and consumer confidence were both severely affected. With confidence already low by early September 2001, it plummeted to the levels seen following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and beyond those seen after the terrorist attacks in the 1990s (Economic Consequences of Terrorism, OECD Economic Outlook 71, 2002).
In transport terms it is interesting to note the significant financial impact of the need for increased security on public transport. In addition to the $1.7 billion required to rebuild underground system.
estimated $531 million in expenses to fund rescue and recovery, lost fares and reduction in tax
$1.1 billion was required to enable the New York Metropolitan Transport Authority to improve security on the capital’s public transport system (The Century Foundation, Economic Impact of Terrorist Attack, May 13 2002). p12
The economic impact resulting form a downturn in travel and tourism was enormous
$7 billion to $13 billion in lost revenue
25,000 lost jobs by 2003
Visitors were expected to fall by 14% in 2001 compared to the previous year (The Century Foundation, Economic Impact of Terrorist Attack, May 13 2002). P12
In terms of individual businesses, in a survey of members conducted after the New York attacks the Institute of Directors reported that 20% of members had increased business security since September 11th
52% who carried our risk assessments to assess their vulnerability to attack
47% improving security at access points (Institute of Directors, Profits, loss and fear: doing business under the shadow of terrorism, 2005.)
positive note, 8% of businesses considered the fear of terrorism to have actually improved their profitability – 53% of which were from technology businesses, 27% security consultants and 23% manufacturers of security equipment (Institute of Directors, Profits, loss and fear: doing business under the shadow of terrorism, 2005).
Tony McNally
Tony McNally, managing director of security consultants Amicus Mentor Ltd, said his firm had felt a definite impact from the recent terror attacks. He added: “We were not that surprised to hear that a high proportion of businesses in London do not have a contingency plan to review.
www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/pblications/785-the-cyber-threat-to-uk-business/file
The cyber threat to UK business 2016/2017 report
The cyber threat to UK business is significant and growing. In the three months since the NCSC was created, the UK has been hit by 188 high-level attacks which were serious enough to warrant NCSC involvement, and countless lower level ones
Threats
This threat is varied and adaptable. It ranges from high volume, opportunistic attacks where technical expertise is bought, not learned, to highly sophisticated and persistent threats involving bespoke malware designed to compromise specific targets. The lines between those committing attacks con- tinue to blur, with criminal groups imitating states in order to attack financial institutions and more advanced actors successfully using ‘off the shelf’ malware to launch attacks.
internet devises
The rise of internet connected devices gives attackers more opportunity. Consumer goods and industrial systems combined with the ever increasing commercial footprint online provides threat actors with more attack vectors than ever before.
