Goldman Sachs 2015 Annual Report Download - page 45

THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Despite the resiliency plans and facilities we have in place,
our ability to conduct business may be adversely impacted
by a disruption in the infrastructure that supports our
businesses and the communities in which we are located.
This may include a disruption involving electrical, satellite,
undersea cable or other communications, internet,
transportation or other services facilities used by us or third
parties with which we conduct business, including cloud
service providers. These disruptions may occur as a result of
events that affect only our buildings or systems or those of
such third parties, or as a result of events with a broader
impact globally, regionally or in the cities where those
buildings or systems are located, including, but not limited
to, natural disasters, war, civil unrest, terrorism, economic
or political developments, pandemics and weather events.
Nearly all of our employees in our primary locations,
including the New York metropolitan area, London,
Bengaluru, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Salt Lake City, work in
close proximity to one another, in one or more buildings.
Notwithstanding our efforts to maintain business
continuity, given that our headquarters and the largest
concentration of our employees are in the New York
metropolitan area, and our two principal office buildings in
the New York area both are located on the waterfront of
the Hudson River, depending on the intensity and longevity
of the event, a catastrophic event impacting our New York
metropolitan area offices, including a terrorist attack,
extreme weather event or other hostile or catastrophic
event, could negatively affect our business. If a disruption
occurs in one location and our employees in that location
are unable to occupy our offices or communicate with or
travel to other locations, our ability to service and interact
with our clients may suffer, and we may not be able to
successfully implement contingency plans that depend on
communication or travel.
A failure to protect our computer systems, networks
and information, and our clients’ information, against
cyber attacks and similar threats could impair our
ability to conduct our businesses, result in the
disclosure, theft or destruction of confidential
information, damage our reputation and cause losses.
Our operations rely on the secure processing, storage and
transmission of confidential and other information in our
computer systems and networks. There have been several
highly publicized cases involving financial services and
consumer-based companies reporting the unauthorized
disclosure of client or customer information in recent years,
as well as cyber attacks involving the dissemination, theft
and destruction of corporate information or other assets, as
a result of failure to follow procedures by employees or
contractors or as a result of actions by third parties,
including actions by foreign governments.
We are regularly the target of attempted cyber attacks,
including denial-of-service attacks, and must continuously
monitor and develop our systems to protect our technology
infrastructure and data from misappropriation or
corruption. In addition, due to our interconnectivity with
third-party vendors, central agents, exchanges, clearing
houses and other financial institutions, we could be
adversely impacted if any of them is subject to a successful
cyber attack or other information security event.
Despite our efforts to ensure the integrity of our systems
and information, we may not be able to anticipate, detect or
implement effective preventive measures against all cyber
threats, especially because the techniques used are
increasingly sophisticated, change frequently and are often
not recognized until launched. Cyber attacks can originate
from a variety of sources, including third parties who are
affiliated with foreign governments or are involved with
organized crime or terrorist organizations. Third parties
may also attempt to place individuals within the firm or
induce employees, clients or other users of our systems to
disclose sensitive information or provide access to our data
or that of our clients, and these types of risks may be
difficult to detect or prevent.
Goldman Sachs 2015 Form 10-K 33