Companies' Computer Networks not Prepared for Disasters

Many companies throughout the country have become completely reliant on their computer networks to complete their daily operations. Unfortunately though, not as many are prepared for a disaster as they should be. This information was revealed in a study by AT&T Inc. AT&T Inc issued a press release indicating the results of their study.

Disasters can come in a variety of forms. This time of year one of the items that are most on the minds of residents along the Gulf Coast and eastern seaboard of the United States are hurricanes. These storms can cause a loss of power and access to a computer network for the entire company. These are not the only risks though as other risks include items on the internet including spyware and viruses. The study ranked the business sector in ten major metropolitan areas with how prepared they are for a disaster that could effect computer networks.

The most prepared areas include New York, Houston, and San Francisco. Meanwhile out of the ten cities surveyed the least prepared were Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Cleveland. The other cities surveyed included the Boston, Memphis/Nashville, Atlanta, and Chicago areas.

The press release from AT&T choose one of the cities in the middle of the result list as an example to use about industry preparedness for the damage a disaster can cause to computer networks, this city was Atlanta, GA.

It was discovered that in Atlanta 28 percent of businesses have no plans in place for business disruption due to a disaster effecting their computer network. More than half of the companies in the Atlanta business area had updated their plans in the past year, but these were not all tested. Only 47 percent have tested their plans in the past year and 13 percent never tested their plans.

"Tornadoes, floods, fires, blackouts and man-made disasters such as cyber attacks can all have devastating consequences, but having a plan in place can minimize the impact of a disaster," said Phil Jacobs. Mr. Jacobs is the president of Business Communications Services for AT&T Southeast.