Innovation Resilience


Lessons learned


ing the Risk business in today’s ever-changing world.


Embracing interoperability and strengthening the reliance between other partners can decrease risk. However, structured steps in the response plans massively increased understanding and bolstered the resilience elements in the risk management process. This was certainly true in our case.


Emerging from this, I am sure several risk modelling variations were used across organisations within our industry. This will have enabled them to continue to operate on a much stronger level because of this resilience being tested daily during the pandemic.


Counter Terrorism: The recent periods of isolation and fundamental changes in how we have had to live have had a massive impact on the terrorism threat we face.


As security professionals, we need to be honest and truly consider what effective CT looks like in our attitudes and culture. In any major incident the immediate responses in the aftermath are shock, horror and grief. This is followed by the investigations, reviews, and the dissection of how it happened. This heightened focus and response sadly settles all too quickly after an incident.


Outside those directly affected, this response needs to change: the “it won’t happen to me” mindset needs to be “not if, but when this happens to me”. There is excellent training available such as ACT, SCaN, and other programs in the industry. However, security culture needs to change. The incredible work being driven by Figen Murray on the Protect Duty, Martyn’s Law is so critical.


We get so absorbed in our roles, especially the day-to-day operations and contract fulfilment that the security function can be diluted. The core security basics sadly may not be carried


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out. Emphasising customer service is impacting the security function and detracting from the essential security role, in my view.


The focus we can forget is that terrorism is a crime. The methods employed by hostiles (those with negative intentions) carrying out reconnaissance are the same as if they were going to carry out a simple burglary. The methods used to disrupt crime are equally effective on those looking to commit opportunistic crime as they are on those planning something more sinister.


Simply put, if you make it uncomfortable for those with nefarious intent, minimise their opportunity to operate in our own small areas of responsibility and cooperate with our neighbouring security teams and police, then these small areas become a larger secure area.


Coaching frontline security teams to engage in this every day will change their mindset and is an effective measure for CT. All this impacts in minimising the risks and deterring the threats. As previously mentioned, the right information, at the right level, is essential in the risk management strategy.


Innovation: “Unprecedented”, “not seen on this scale”, "unthinkable", "inconceivable" are descriptions used all too often when we look back on what we have contended with in the security environment in the last 20-odd years.


Where does this leave us in terms of delivering innovation and new ideas, chasing that elusive next “eureka” moment? Sometimes innovation is so expected that it may even be included in KPI measurements.


The current approach may lead to “blue sky thinking” or ideas for ideas’ sake. For me, this is mostly a waste of time. New does not


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necessarily mean better. The threats and risk appetites that we deal with vary massively. Applying tried and tested approaches to security to these differing situations can lead to innovation in how they are applied.


An area that is regularly overlooked when considering innovation is lessons learnt. Reviewing previous experiences is critical to evolving response and mitigation measures. Without this dissection, mistakes are easily replicated through habitual or established responses when assessing risk and resilience.


The “how” something was implemented, not “what” was implemented, can bring innovation in my view: how was security applied within the environment it was expected to protect. This understanding of the environment and its risks will drive innovation and bring stronger and more effective security. A wiser man than me always emphasised the need to coach security teams on the “why”. This will lead to teams making decisions when they really need to.


Jon Felix BSc (Hons) MDIP MBCI MSyl Security Risk & Threat Advisor CIS Security


www.cis-security.co.uk


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