Security policy - Expert commentary

Employers are increasingly concerned about the risks associated with employees, temporary workers, independent contractors, and others who have the ability to wreak havoc on an organization from the inside. This is often referred to as “insider threat.” There are numerous types of insider and post-hire threats that range from embezzlement, theft of trade secrets, workplace violence or active shooters, and everything else in between. Potential insider threats are...

The FSMA Final rule will protect the food supply against intentional contamination due to sabotage, terrorism, counterfeiting, or other illegal harmful means The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is due to release the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Final Rule on Intentional Adulteration on May 31, 2016. Food Industry Security Professionals will soon be tasked with assessing their facilities to reduce supply chain food adulteration vulnerabilities. Food Secur...

Sports stadiums and leagues are constantly pushing for higher security standards & best practices to strengthen venues that may be perceived as "soft targets" Terrorism threats have focused the attention of sports security professionals like Paul Turner, Director of Event Operations & Security for AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on how to more effectively screen guests and ensure that fans and athletes are kept safe. It has made the sobering reality that stadiums...

Deadly terrorist attacks on buildings have highlighted the need of a well-designedand well implemented physical security program What constitutes a well-designed physical security program? Deadly terrorist attacks on buildings such as the San Bernardino Administrative Center, Riverside Countyin California., have highlight the need of a well-designed and well implemented physical security program. S.Steven Oplinger, Chair of the ASIS Physical Security Council, outlines 5 basic...

The key driver to growth in the IP market is the effectiveness and efficiency of the technology Technological advances in video surveillance are allowing end users the flexibility to do more with their systems than previously imagined. 2014 saw several new technological trends that shaped the future of the security market, with 4K and cyber security being the main drivers. The drift continues this year too with end users demanding HD video surveillance and wide-spread impl...

Ethics and the security industry is a balancing act Most of us have a basic instinct as to what is and is not ethical behavior. But is instinct enough?  “Ethics and the security industry is a balancing act,” says Mike Hurst, vice chairman of the UK Chapter of ASIS International. “Most people will have an instinct as to what ethical behavior is, but there’s an absence of hard and fast rules.” Examples often crop up in video surveillance situa...

The industry has to advance in terms of attracting experienced people and paying for that experience Time was, security officers patrolled with walkie-talkies, responding to dispatchers monitoring cameras in the control center. The post of security officer was a minimum wage job requiring little more than a high school diploma, if that. Educated And Experienced Security Officers A Prerequisite No more. “Today, when we read our requests for proposal (RFPs), we’re...

Supply chain risk management involves identifying and dealing with supply chain uncertainties that pose a threat to business continuity Today’s complex world needs risk managers, business people that think about the bad things that might happen and lay plans to eliminate or at least mitigate those risks. This article explains the need to identify and respond to risks involved in a supply chain. Manufacturers should make efforts and develop strategies to enhance supply ch...

Compliance with regulatory requirements are not enough to protect the US electric grid  Many companies use compliance and best practices to assist in their fight to protect the U.S. electric grid. They rely primarily on what three groups say – FERC (Federal Energy and Regulatory Committee), CERT (U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team) and NERC (North American Electric Reliability Corporation). These groups issue advisories, standards and guidelines for the industr...

Whether you are a contractor, installer, dealer or systems integrator depends on where you live and how you are perceived by the real world Because I have been in the industry for a considerable amount of time, I have seen quite a few changes, albeit the bulk have come over the last five or so years. Before that, the advent of the digital dialer was our big innovation – that tells anyone with any history in the industry just how far back I go! But today, change is fast a...

The SIA Security Market Index rose to 74.6 in November 2014, up from 72.3 in September SIA 2014/2014 Review and Forecast: The Security Industry Association (SIA) has begun to conduct a bimonthly survey of select SIA members to measure confidence in the security industry through the SIA Security Market Index. Using a scale of 1-100, the SIA Security Market Index reflected growing confidence among security industry business leaders throughout 2014 and into 2015. The SIA Securi...

There are signs of a change in the electronic access control industry in favor of systems based on interoperability as proposed by ONVIF ONVIF 2014/2015 Review & Forecast: The year ahead certainly looks to be an important one. Interoperability, data security and ease of installation will all be of concern to the physical security industry. We see an increased awareness for interoperability among the end users in the industry, which in turns reflects back on the need f...

Good training is a best practice that applies across a broad range of industries and markets Owners and managers of security dealerships, both large and small, face unique challenges in running their companies, and while there is no magic formula for success, dealerships that invest in training for their staff typically do better than those who don’t.  In fact, good training is a best practice that applies across a broad range of industries and markets, but it is pa...

The security industry can be like a house built on sand without professional standards in place Picture the scene: You’re suffering from a persistent pain and so decide to take a trip to your doctor to get it checked out. You step into the consulting room but, before you can speak, he looks you up and down, haw and hums, and then writes out a prescription. Would you be happy that drugs prescribed in this manner will cure your ailment when your doctor has not even bothe...

Security standardization reduces operational requirements Controlling identified risks at all of your sites, anywhere in the world, can be difficult. Especially when taking budget constraints into account. How can you ensure all of your people have a secure working environment? And that all employees, everywhere, adhere to your security policy? Nancy Wanders, Business Development Manager Asia/Pacific at Nedap, states that standardising security gives this assurance and more. I...

Law enforcement and pure problem-solving skills will play less of a role for the future security director Much effort has been put down in the professionalization of security work. Not only is it a recurring topic of conversation at events for security professionals, but also a formal topic of concern for ASIS – having active task forces devoted to the promotion of professionalization and academization of security practice as well as a recently updated standard (ANSI/ASI...

Quantifying information provides insights for business to improve performance management The ability to measure and analyze the effectiveness of security operations is extremely useful – not only for identifying and addressing an organization’s vulnerabilities, but also for demonstrating security’s mitigating impact on overall risk levels along with the higher-level value security delivers to a business. Brian McIlravey, Co-CEO at PPM, explains how security m...

 How might "competing technologies" impact HDcctv’s efforts to gain traction as an alternative to IP? Editor's Note: HDcctv Alliance has announced that Dahua has opened its patented HDCVI technology to the global video surveillance industry as the basis for HDcctv's AT 2.0 standard. For additional elaboration on what the move means to the growing market for higher-resolution CCTV, we approached Todd Rockoff, chairman and executive director of HDcctv Alliance. Sourc...

Innovation in the world of physical security systems tends to be a reactive response Threats such as Mifare hacking, the General Data Protection regulation coming in 2016, and the need for security to integrate with other IT-based systems – these are just some of the challenges security manufacturers and system users have to deal with and respond to. Daryn Flynn, Business Development Manager at Nedap Security Management, states that external factors such as these do...

A value management process with clearly defined steps and procedures is critical In a highly competitive marketplace, where organizations need to ensure they are contracting for the best possible services, value must be visible. This starts with aligning with the right service provider – one that is dedicated to the organization’s success and has the people and processes to make an impact. Certainly most, if not all, service organizations say that they strive t...

The best standards are often baseline, common-denominator standards that leave room for innovation The collaboration between ONVIF and SIA to develop new access control standards is just the latest standards-related news from the Security Industry Association (SIA), the American trade association headquartered in Silver Spring, Md., near Washington, D.C.  In fact, SIA has a long history and tradition of standards development, dating back to the 1980s. SIA has produced 1...

Security officers work diligently to protect people and property and are often first on the scene of an emergency. Working alongside police, paramedics and firefighters, security officers demand our collective respect. The Freedonia Group reports that the demand for security officer and patrol services is forecast to rise at an annual rate of 4.6 percent through 2014 to $25 billion and the number of officers employed by private security firms is expected to increase 2.6 perce...

Companies that have developed a culture of openness can provide and receive feedback at all levels “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down” is an old Japanese saying that took hold in our post World War II corporate America culture. This phrase encourages an unspoken rule of conformity combined with an authoritarian hierarchical structure. Today it is important for business leaders to consider the impact this has in American workplaces. Brent O’Bryan...