This is vital in ensuring effective security is part effective and part of the security culture. Especially after you have spent considerable time, money, and resources on designing and implementing a system in the first place.


Incident Response Plans and Testing:


Develop a detailed incident response plan that outlines how to respond to security incidents and emergencies. These, as previously mentioned, need to be regularly tested to evaluate the effectiveness of your security measures through vulnerability assessments, penetration testing, and security audits. Make necessary adjustments based on the results. These tests also need to be applied to emergency drills and responses.


Documentation, Recording, Monitoring and Maintenance:


practice, inappropriate and ineffectual examples, often led by architectural plans and the aesthetic as opposed to if it will actually work as designed. Too often, security is not consulted when these systems and operational controls are implemented or designed. I am forever reviewing systems with blind spots, poor control facilities and, quite frankly, pointless waste of money on elements of the installation.


Network and Information Security:


Design and implement cybersecurity measures to protect digital assets and sensitive information. This includes firewalls, intrusion detection systems, encryption, and regular software patching. I am not an expert in this field but again, it’s important in the security design element that the integration of security technology and systems (e.g. access control, alarms, surveillance) does work cohesively and provides a comprehensive security solution. The added element is that the human aspect must be aware of the threats, social profiling and other concerns that can let the technology systems fail.


Security Training and Awareness:


The last sentence in the previous paragraph is vital: train employees and users on security best practices and protocols, ensure that the security culture is enforced and supported from the highest levels down through to the frontline users. By encouraging a culture of security awareness and reporting suspicious activities, supported with training, and instilling the confidence, frontline staff are not then questioned as to why they had the audacity to verify a pass or check ID.


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Maintain thorough documentation of security policies, procedures, configurations, and incident reports. This documentation is essential for compliance and continuous improvement. They are also needed as potential evidence in any investigations post incident. Ensure that users have access to these processes in simple and digestible formats, especially when responding in anger, as it were. Continuously monitoring security systems, updating software, and regular scheduled maintenance ensures that security measures remain effective and up to date. These may be driven by legislation and codes of practice and conduct. They should make up a key part of any overall security strategy and operational plans. While very few people enjoy the admin side, it is a critical part to ensure the security planning and execution to remains.


Review, Adaptation, Communication and Reporting:


Periodically review and adapt your security design to address changing threats, technologies, and business needs. Security is an ongoing process that requires continuous improvement. Threat landscapes change and as we have seen in recent years, risks, and their complexity, change, which may mean what was in place originally is no longer effective or sufficient. Establish clear communication channels for reporting security incidents and sharing security updates with relevant stakeholders, external partners suppliers and ultimate end users; this has to be part of the security design. In any crisis or incident the communication element is often the first to fail.


By following these steps and maintaining a proactive and adaptive approach to security design, organisations can create a robust and effective security framework that mitigates risks and protects valuable assets. As these steps are an overview it is important that the correct level of expertise is applied at a more granular level. Detailed assessments should include; Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), Threat and


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Vulnerability reviews and focused crime statistics and patterns. These add to the known and likely threats so you can design out crime from the outset and not have to retrofit post incident. Retrofit is always less effective and more expensive. As an overview, consider the following in your design process (drastically simplified for the purpose of this article):


Natural Surveillance:


Ensure that spaces are designed to maximise visibility, reducing areas where criminal or hostile activity can occur unnoticed.


Territorial Reinforcement:


Clearly define and delineate property boundaries to establish a sense of ownership and territorial management. Control the movements and prevent desire lines and spontaneous pathways and traffic.


Access Control:


Implement measures such as controlled entrances, gates, and fences to regulate who can enter your controlled areas and how.


Maintenance and Management:


Keep the environment well-maintained to signal that it is actively cared for and monitored.


Environmental Design Considerations:


Lighting, landscaping, and architectural features can enhance security. Where you have seating, cycle storage etc, these can be designed to be crime deterrents.


Community Engagement:


Engage with the community and gather their input on security concerns and preferences. A sense of ownership and involvement in the security design process can foster a safer environment.


In summary, correct planning and application to security design will make a huge difference to the integrity of the environment that is being protected. Work with planners, designers, and architects; push for what is needed at the right time to prevent value engineering and poor decision making, or at least financially driven decision making where cheap is seen as best. Successful security is a partnership approach and it is essential for open partnerships with clients, police and other service partners that planning must be seen as a vital keystone to ensure success.


Jon Felix BSc(Hons) MDIP MBCI MSyl M.ISRM Risk and Threat Advisor CIS Security


www.cis-security.co.uk


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