Employers Find Sept. 11 Means More Work Protecting Staffers People in foreign posts are at risk, and official briefings aren't enough.(A)

Byline: PETER BENESH

Daniel Pearl was not the first American killed by terrorists in Karachi, Pakistan. In 1995, two U.S. diplomats died when Muslim extremists opened fire. In November 1997, militants killed four auditors from the Texas Union Oil Co.

Journalists knowingly take chances. Diplomats know they may be targets. But companies have been slow to understand the perils abroad. Until Sept. 11.

Now firms that provide risk and geopolitical analysis are busier than ever.

The 1997 case shows how corporate intelligence failure can cost lives. Two days before those murders, a U.S. court convicted a Pakistani Muslim for the 1993 murders of two CIA agents in Langley, Va.

The State Department warned that Americans could be revenge targets. The auditors either didn't get the warning or didn't heed it.

Texas Union beat the widows' negligence suit. But firms may be liable if their employees suffer abroad, experts say. Asset or business losses can also be steep.