CEOs: Global economy, social media risks

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NEW YORK, July 4 (UPI) -- A survey of 192 U.S. executives indicates 42 percent say the global economic environment was their biggest source of risk, while 27 percent say social media.

"Social media wasn't even on the radar a few years ago, and we're now seeing it ranked among the top sources of risk, on the same level as financial risk," Henry Ristuccia, a partner in Deloitte & Touche LLP and co-leader of Deloitte's Governance and Risk Management services, said in a statement.

The Deloitte and Forbes Insights survey found the majority of respondents anticipated the global economic environment will remain the greatest source of risk through 2015, 30 percent said regulatory changes and 27 percent said social media would increasingly be a source of risk.

"The rise of social media is just another contributor to the volatile risk environment companies are being forced to navigate," Ristuccia said in a statement. "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."

Despite advances in risk-related technologies, the survey found automation tools and tools used for continuously monitoring risk were underutilized. Most risk monitoring was done periodically, on a monthly, quarterly, biannual or annual basis, Ristuccia said.

The executive surveyed are with companies whose annual revenue ranges from $5 million to $20 billion.

No further survey details were provided.