September 11: One Year Later
Q: The 9/11 attacks also spurred the creation of new regulations, most notably the USA PATRIOT Act. How arethe new regulations impacting your operations?
A: Snow, Empire: HIPAA has had more of an impact on us. However-and this is not a regulation, but does have to do partially with the aftermath of the attacks-we do have technology in place that plays a role in analyzing data for early detection of bioterrorism. We will see spikes in illnesses in concentrated areas through reports from hospitals. We need to recognize when Cipro orders spike, or a certain diagnosis starts coming in abnormal numbers. We are able to do that today. That will help with early detection.
A: Lowenthal, Hartford Financial Products: We take the USA PATRIOT Act very seriously; our executives in our corporate headquarters are focusing on this issue for the entire company. They're in the process of bolstering controls for incoming and outgoing payments. This includes employing sophisticated technologies to help detect and prevent potential money laundering transactions. The Hartford also is implementing practices and procedures in various businesses that will assist in verifying the identity of customers in accordance with the PATRIOT Act.
Q: Employees put forth phenomenal efforts after 9/11 to restore operations. How did your employees fare after the disaster recovery work was complete and the reality began to sink in?
A: Snow, Empire: Right after the attacks, people were running on adrenaline. People were not dwelling on the incident. But I noticed that around Christmas, after the company was back to normal operations, when people took time off for the holiday-that is when it hit. Some of the senior officers were clearly rattled. When they slowed down and had time to think about it, they were shaken. We offered a lot of employee counseling right after the day, and continue to make it available. We saw a lot of use of that right after 9/11, then the use subsided—and increased again at the holiday. I won't be surprised if increased use comes back again on the anniversary.
In our permanent location at Metrotech we will have a memorial for our 11 employees who were lost. We can never forget them, but the whole event brings back bad memories. I think people are trying to forget. Our economy is in a recession, and part of that is tied to 9/11. So overall it has been a fairly bad time for people. I hope there will be some closure at the one-year anniversary. It is time to move forward. It is painful to constantly be looking back, and it may be counter-productive in the long run.
A: Lowenthal, Hartford Financial Products: For the most part our employees have rebounded extremely well, but several employees decided they no longer wished to work in New York City. For the many employees involved in the immediate rebuilding process, the experience of focusing on work was quite therapeutic. From the very beginning of the attack we used our employee assistance program and we brought counselors on-site a few times a week. We held group meetings where each employee described his or her story of 9/11, and that seemed to unify us and allowed us to comfort each other. We continue to have a counselor on-site every couple of weeks. I personally felt uncomfortable the first time back into a high-rise building, and I'm sure others had the same experience. But, besides everyone participating more seriously in fire drills, everything seems back to normal.
A: Roecker, Kemper Casualty: Kemper's first and primary concern was for the safety and health of its employees. Grief counselors were on site in all temporary locations. This service is still available to all employees. In addition, Kemper's Employee Assistance Program provides counseling service for all Kemper employees.
Q: What security and cybersecurity measures were strengthened or added to prevent cyber-terrorist attacks?
A: Snow, Empire: It is odd: The most secure site we ever had was the World Trade Center, in terms of the security, swipe cards, and guards in the lobby. But there is nothing all that security could do to stop an airplane from flying into the building. We have the same type of security in the 11 buildings we have now. We have always been more security conscious than other companies, but maybe that is just because of our business and the sensitive information that we have. As for cybersecurity, we have put the highest level of security out there for transactions, and we are very conscious of it.
A: Lowenthal, Hartford Financial Products: Physical security has increased, as well as cybersecurity measures, which have always played an extremely important role. The Hartford has strict, enterprise-wide processes and procedures to help ensure compliance from business units.
A: Roecker, Kemper Casualty: Kemper has always been and continues to be concerned about employee security and safety. All our locations have good physical security. Access is controlled by either security guards and/or a card key access system. After 9/11, we evaluated each location and are satisfied with our physical security measures.
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This Month's Experts
DAVID SNOW
President & Chief Operating Officer, Empire BlueCross BlueShield, New York.
ANDREW COLE
CIO, St. Paul Re, New York.
CRAIG LOWENTHAL
CIO, Hartford Financial Products (New York), a unit of The Hartford.
RON ROECKER
CIO, Kemper Casualty Company (New York), a division of The Kemper Insurance Companies.
Greg MacSweeney is editorial director of InformationWeek Financial Services, whose brands include Wall Street & Technology, Bank Systems & Technology, Advanced Trading, and Insurance & Technology. View Full Bio
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