Deloitte: Risk monitoring need improvement

By Rob Starr, Content Manager, Big4.com

Although more than one in four (27 percent) of respondents in a new Deloitte survey  predicted that risks posed by social media would play an increasingly important role, fewer than 25 percent of executives report that their organizations continuously monitor risk.

Henry Ristuccia, partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP and co-leader of Deloitte’s Governance and Risk Management services commented:

“Social media wasn’t even on the radar a few years ago, and we’re now seeing it ranked among the top five sources of risk, on the same level as financial risk,” he said. “The rise of social media is just another contributor to the volatile risk environment companies are being forced to navigate. The current marketplace seems to require that organizations be nimble in their risk assessment approach, whether it’s dealing with what employees post on social networks, or how they’re coping with regulatory changes or taking advantage of the opportunities rewarded risks can create.”

The  new Deloitte and Forbes Insights survey   found that automation tools and tools used for continuously monitoring risk are underutilized. Most monitoring is done periodically, on a monthly, quarterly, biannual or annual basis.Respondents indicated that strategic risk and technology risk were the two areas where budgets will increase the most. Around 50 percent of respondents said they expect minimal change to risk management budgets across the board. Fewer than 15 percent of respondents across all risk areas said risk budgets would decrease over the next three years.