Suicide touches everyone. About every 15 minutes someone dies by suicide, and about every minute someone attempts suicide. This is an issue that is especially prevalent among working-age adults. Not only can the suicide of an employee disrupt business as usual, it can deeply impact coworkers and their mental state following the incident. It is the responsibility of both managers and employees to prevent these incidents from happening, and to also respond to people who may be at…
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As a determined entrepreneur, you never know how successful a company will be until you take the leap of faith to just start it. That’s part of the fun and working hard to make customers successful along with having a great team behind you, sets the table for success. 2015 was an awesome year for Preparis. Not only did we grow our business significantly with some terrific, new customers (you all know who you are!), we also did a lot…
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The landscape of the workplace is changing and not necessarily for the better when it comes to violence. Professionals in every industry have growing concerns for the safety of their employees and are looking for ways to prepare for and respond to a workplace violence incident. Your business’ biggest asset is your people and having a plan to keep them safe should be an intricate part of your business continuity plan. Preparis ensures you and your business are…
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As a huge Star Wars fan, I can’t wait to see The Force Awakens. In anticipation of the big event, I re-watched the three first Star Wars films from 30+ years ago. In the first film, A New Hope, the Galactic Empire built the Death Star to rule the galaxy. The size of a small planet, it was impenetrable. It could move, it could blow up planets, and it had a protective force field. The defining moment in…
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Santa has one of the most difficult jobs there is: delivering joy to every girl and boy in a single night. With the millions of required deliveries, he doesn’t have time to take chances on something going wrong. While the elves are hard at work making toys throughout the year, we assume Santa keeps busy designating which names end up on the Naughty and Nice lists. However, Santa has one other important list to double check throughout the…
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In the business continuity profession, there are seemingly dozens of acronyms used to describe a multitude of intricacies within the industry: BIA, IMP, EAP, CMT, ICS—you get the idea. For many charged with the added responsibility of managing risks at their organization, it is easy to interchange a few of these terms. Two of the more common ones confused for each other are disaster recovery plans (DRPs) and business continuity plans (BCPs). Here, we’ve explained the difference between…
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The Northern Plains and parts of the Upper Midwest endured a pounding from Winter Storm Delphi as some locations received over 9 inches of snow accumulation in a 24 hour period. In an area of the US already weakened by extreme winter weather, the arrival of Delphi has further strained resources and prompted hundreds of delays, closures, and accidents. In fact, reports from Minnesota alone indicate nearly 400 traffic accidents occurred across the state during that time. In…
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Several years ago I was speaking with Sean Kaufman, an expert in global threat preparedness and response, and I heard something that I’ve never forgotten: it’s only a matter of time before terrorism in the US involves suicide bombings. A first reaction is “that will never happen here,” at least not on a wide scale. There is no real history of these types of events in the US, and it would be difficult to pull off. The harsh…
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If last week was any indication, it is becoming increasingly clear that the threat of terrorism is expanding globally. Not only did Paris endure several coordinated attacks; Beirut and Yola, Nigeria were both targets of terrorist attacks, as well. In addition to showing support for the victims, survivors, and others affected by these atrocities, it is imperative that organizations also look for ways to protect ourselves and each other from future acts of terrorism. A growing terrorism response…
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On November 3rd, 2015, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) issued a statement warning financial institutions of the increasing number of cyber-attacks used to extort money and other allowances from victims, a trend that is seen around the world. For example, news came out in September that several large financial organizations in the United Kingdom were being targeted by extortion cybercriminals in the DD4BC group for bitcoins. According to the report, 58% of the extortion ring’s targets…
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