WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Cargo and supply chain security specialists rate theft a bigger threat than terrorism, according to a new survey.

Eyefortransport, a provider of news and information to the logistics and transportation industry, questioned 330 professionals by e-mail in August in its fourth annual survey.

When asked which area of security was the greatest challenge for their organizations, 50 percent of respondents said “reducing cargo theft across the supply chain,” compared with 41 percent in last year’s survey.

By contrast, only a third named “implementing a security program to safeguard against a terrorist threat” as their major challenge.

This issue has see-sawed in importance over the past four years, from 76 percent in 2004, to 37 in 2005, 22 percent in 2006 and 34 percent this year.