For Employers Conducting Business Abroad, Kidnappings Remain an Ongoing Concern

As opportunities for U.S. employers to conduct business in other countries increase, so too does the threat that employees working overseas will be kidnapped, security and risk management consultants told BNA Nov. 1-9.

Christopher Voss, managing director and leader of Insite Security’s kidnapping resolution practice in New York City and a former supervisory special agent in the FBI’s Crisis Negotiation Unit, said there are roughly “50 to 60 American business-related kidnappings annually.”

Amir Lechner, founder of ThreatRate Risk Management in New York City, said professionals who monitor such crimes estimated that there were 75,000 kidnappings worldwide annually a few years ...