It is easy to think of safety and security as synonymous terms, but are they really? The confusion is in understanding their differences. In both cases, we are talking about something that could cause harm to another person, many persons, or property. The difference between safety and security is the intent to do harm. If there is water on the …
Global Risk Management
Mark S. Beasley, PhD, CPA at North Carolina State University was the first professional who started us thinking in terms of business risks being managed as a portfolio instead of the traditional model where each function or department focuses on their associated risks independent of each other. On the surface it seems like a reasonable, efficient, and cost effective approach. …
Sharing Protected Information
Jim was looking for ways to make Acme’s production process more efficient. He ran a search on the Internet for their new process, and he also wanted to see if their competitors had figured it out yet. One of the search hits was an image, and it looked like there was a TX1000 machine in the background. He took a …
The Cost of Security
The former director of a North Carolina Central University program designed to help minority students used an unauthorized bank account to divert more than $1 million from the program over six years, according to a state audit (WRAL News Story). What can we learn from this story? It’s usually easier and cheaper for companies and organizations to be proactive rather …
Why Would You Hire a Consultant?
The years 2010 and 2011 will definitely go down in history as two years where business learned to do more with less. So why would a company consider using a security consultant to work with them on their security program? I can guess what you are thinking – we have security people and the Internet so we can do Google …
Surveillance: The Art of Getting Paid for Sitting and Reporting?
When it comes to investigations and surveillance, what are you getting for your money? In recent months, we have noticed a trend of investigations managed by large companies that purport to be more efficient but may actually be less productive for their clients.
Emergencies and Visitors
John looked out across the lobby at the growing crowd. Mondays were always busy, but the crowd seemed larger than usual today. Because of the storms on the horizon, no one was waiting on the front sidewalk. His phone buzzed, and he saw a notification from his weather app. At the same time, he heard a warning from the …
Emergency Situations and Situational Awareness
Most of us have practiced fire drills at work and have thought about where to take shelter from a tornado when at home. The tornados and severe weather hit North Carolina on a Saturday, a day when many people are away from work and home. In general, we spend most of our time at work or at home. Hopefully, we …
Business Continuity Planning and the Protection of the Supply Chain
As security consultants, we have the privilege of working for multiple companies and agencies around the globe, which gives us deeper insight into how businesses typically view, plan, and prepare for the unexpected. Too often, however, it seems we are brought into the security process in a remedial role, after an unforeseen and unprepared for event. In the current economy, …
A Locked Room
On Monday, an employee reports that there is one monitor missing from the shipment of new monitors that was received the previous Friday. The quantity was verified at delivery by the shipping company and two of your employees. The interior door to the loading dock was locked on Friday evening and was still locked on Monday morning. The roll-up loading …