Corporate spending on security lagging.

A report from The Conference Board, in Washington, D.C., states that "corporate America's overall spending on security in response to terrorism has increased only modestly."

The study, co-sponsored by ASIS International, said the median increase for security spending since Sept. 11, 2001 is just 4 percent.

Median security spending is up about 9 percent in New York, Boston and other key cities in the Northeast, the report said, but has risen less than 3 percent in other parts of the country.

"A 4 percent median increase in security spending seems counter-intuitively small in light of our concerns about terror," said Daniel H. Kropp, president of ASIS International, a firm that represents security professionals.

Only 7 percent of the businesses interviewed for the study, increased their security spending by at least 50 percent, industries most likely to step up spending are in transportation, energy, utilities, financial services, media, telecommunications, information technology and healthcare, according to the report.

"While nobody knows how much security spending is enough, there are legitimate concerns about corporate vulnerability," said Tom Cavanagh, a security expert at The Conference Board, a non-partisan, not-for-profit research organization.

About 24 percent of the companies surveyed had a chief security officer, the study found. "Few apparently are interested in creating this relatively new position," the report said.

Most companies, in fact, employ less than 50 people to oversee security needs. However, many companies do turn to private security consultants to augment their own staffs, the report stated.

Tight budgets and widespread cost cutting also affected security spending, Cavanagh said.

"There are only two sources of funds to expand security spending--corporate money or government funds and incentives," he said. "Business leaders are reluctant to spend more on security, when they don't see it contributing directly to their bottom line."