The concept of Converged Security is relatively new, and this word started buzzing from around 2015 onwards. Let’s understand this concept with an example.
Let’s say there is an organization called M/s ABC Corporation. Now this ABC Corporation has a very competent departments – Physical Security & Information Technology or IT. The team members of these teams are competent and professional.
Now let’s imagine that the organization is facing the challenge of frequent accidents in its production areas and the location of the organization is surrounded by slums wherein the general crime rate is quite high, and same is reflected by the number of cases of thefts and pilferage in the organization. The organization’s leaders wanted to have an analytical tool which would give them a realistic solution by analyzing the root causes leading to the incidents/accidents/ thefts etc. and as part of this effort, they want their property covered with a state-of-the-art CCTV system.
The objective is to get the live actionable data for accident prevention & theft prevention. The responsibility for getting these installed goes to the physical security team.
Now remember, this security team is competent and professional. So, they identify the locations where the cameras should be installed, considering required distance and quality of output from each camera along with the analytical features which were needed for the system. All the considerations are now in place, the new design for the CCTV system is ready for installation and commissioning. The organization has installed approximately 100 CCTV cameras and a CCTV monitoring station.
Surprisingly, after going live, the system started to face problems like:
Intermittent recording.
Freezing video feed.
The machines which were connected to the IoT and were undergoing industry 4.0 transformations also started facing bandwidth issues.
The overall performance of the IT infrastructure also started to decline considerably and at the same time the IT team raised concerns that there is suddenly heavy traffic on the business network.
What has happened here?
Ok, so what has happened here?
This new CCTV infrastructure was directly connected to the existing business network without measuring the capability and load capacity of this network leading to the collapse of the entire business network with the impact of significant down time and loss to the organization.
In the greater sense, the above issue occurred because:
There was visibly no communication and coordination between the physical security team, IT team, Safety and BCM teams leading to lack of accurate problem identification and arriving on accurate solutions.
All the departments were working within their own silos and the vision is limited to their departmental level only.
Let’s take the same example from different approaches, but in this case, the security team approaches the cyber/ IT team, safety and BCM teams with the mandate they had got from the management. The physical security team proposed the solutions which were enhanced by the other teams, and they arrived at a holistic solution which when implemented gave the organization the required data. On the analysis of the generated data, they identified the time zones of the accidents leading to various interventions like-
Supervisor rounds during the accidents time zone.
Scheduling of the tea breaks
Increased patrolling round by security martials during identified high risk timeline.
Deployment of security martials at strategic locations for theft control.
So, from above example, we can infer that, when all the organization’s different departments work in collaboration with open communication and coordination towards achieving a single aim, we can say they are converging, and such a security process is known as CONVERGED SECURITY.
Secure Enterprise– It enables an integrated view of security threat so leaders can align the security posture accordingly.
Efficiency– Connected physical and cyber security functions reduce the duplication of the efforts and contribute to productivity improvement.
Versatility– Streamlined security function leads to cross-training and overall knowledge base of the organization increases.
Strategic Alignment- Risk and threat management is fully aligned under holistic strategy.
Shared Information- Security functions share information and best practices while working to integrate and operate as one unified team.
Common Goals- Single security program under one set of shared practices and goals to secure cyber-physical infrastructure.
It is also interesting to note the history of this concept, it all started with outselling of “Digital Video Recording” over VCR from 2003 till early 2004, and from 2004 till some next 10 years up to around 2015, all the systems were being migrating from “Analog to Digital” and this era was termed as Era of Migration in IT security domain.
This was also the time when these digital-migrated systems were integrating with a lot of other systems.
Since 2015 a lot of convergence between physical and cyber security systems are happening across the globe, and same forecasted for next 10 years or may be more- approximately between 20 billion to 50 billion* devices are currently connected to the cloud and this number is increasing exponentially.
Quite a few organizations have now looked forward to building the Converged Security Centers which will get the continuous data from Cyber Security and Physical Security teams which will be combinedly represented into a single dashboard with actionable information.
These centers will not just be about the technology, but it will integrate people and processes to technology.
Concept of converged security is the future and relevance of physical security will depend on how fast they can align themselves with the business objectives and collaborate with multiple stakeholders especially with cyber security team for securing the organizations.
It is almost 02 years now but still we are facing challenges related to Covid and its impacts in our life. The impact of this is on three major aspects of our life.
The major impact on us is of loss of our loved ones, we lost many of our family members, friends, and colleagues. This type of human loss was unimaginable by us, and no one was prepared for this type of uncertainty. Total 31.7 covid cases & 55.1 lacs deaths (till 13 Jan 22).
The way we are going on with our lives is completely different than the pre pandemic era. This has major impacts on our mental as well as our physical health.
Covid has also impacted our livelihood, many organizations and small businesses were forced to close causing mass job loss and causing a decline in country’s growth and economy.
This has raised many challenges for us but being a security professional, we must face and treat these challenges likewise. Giving up in any situation is not an option but one should make this an opportunity and become a game changer for his/her department.
I know I have your attention on the latter part of the comment and would like to share my thoughts on it. I have always believed there is always a solution or another door available, we just must search and reach on that path and hope for the best.
Security is such a department which becomes a forefront for any interaction with the outsider and in a way becomes the face of the company. Anyone approaching an organization is first catered by security team anywhere.
And in a way Security becomes responsible for securing its assets, assets not only include the materialistic value an organization has but also its employees and their behavior and health, company’s reputation. These will all decide whether an organization will be profitable or not.
Today’s smart Security Professional aligns his/her security function’s objective and mission with organization’s Goals and Visions and becomes a Business Enabler in supporting business to run the best show.
This pandemic has caused us to become a Game Changer as now business looks upon Security for any Emergency Response and Support. We are the ones responsible for securing every asset from every dynamic threat.
In my knowledge I have experienced some best solution for fight against Covid Pandemic.
SMS (Sanitization, Mask & Social Distancing)
Vaccination (Mandatory for all along with Booster Shots) & build up immunity.
Awareness campaign-Motivate people via sharing Plays, Nukaad Natak, Videos, Story Telling ones who have survived covid and came back stronger.
Technology- Implementation & Integration of Touchless biometric (Face based Recognition) & Temperature Sense devices with access control system.
Video Analytics-Utilization of existing installed cameras feed & applied analytics rule of social distance violation & without mask at most people gathering area. Real time monitoring & alert-based dashboard. Corrective action by sharing violation pics with defaulter & counselling.
Regular Audit & surprise checks of critical area.
The pandemic pushed internal auditors to suddenly rethink audit plans and priorities, navigate a fresh set of risks, adapt to remote working models, and help their organizations minimize the unprecedented disruption caused by COVID-19. Crisis management, business continuity, and employee health and safety became key priorities. Risk and audit findings had to be rolled up and reported swiftly to accelerate strategic decision-making in a world that was rapidly changing. Meanwhile, as digital transformation sped up, auditors had to work faster to provide timely assurance around the risks surrounding modern technologies.
Safe & secure campaign-distribution of N-95 mask, sanitizer, gloves to forefront peoples.
Launch an aggressive campaign to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with the coronavirus infection. Provide education to prepare communities meet the dual challenge of coronavirus and the predicted heat wave.
Reward & recognition to corona warriors for motivation.
The ongoing pandemic has brought forward the bravest and the kindest amongst us. While the world battles an invisible and deadly enemy, these soldiers of humanity are at the forefront, leading a good fight, putting others before themselves.
Medication & yoga camps-virtual or under Covid guidelines. If stress, makes you anxious, tense, and worried, consider trying meditation. Spending even a few minutes in meditation can restore your calm and inner peace. Anyone can practice meditation. It’s simple and inexpensive, and it doesn’t require any special equipment, and you can practice meditation wherever you are — whether you’re out for a walk, riding the bus, waiting at the doctor’s office or even in the middle of a difficult business meeting.
Virtual meeting in place of face-to-face meeting has several benefits like: -Reduced time wasting, Ease of costing, Ease of declining, Directness of communication, less small talk & Ease of saying “no”.
Regular broadcast & sharing of motivational videos among people on official & social group to reduce mental pressure of negative news coming on daily basis. Motivational videos work like medicine and treat our mind with positive vibes. Motivational videos are like magic which strengthens our mind. In fact, we will find a huge difference in the productivity and thought process of the person who watches motivational videos.
We Security professionals are the key asset of any org. Our attitude determines how we look at a setback. Every problem comes with an equal or greater opportunity.
Brig. Gen. (R) Ahmed Fekry transitioned into a Corporate Security Management career after serving 30 years in the Egyptian Military. Now working as Area Security Manager for a leading Facilities Management organization in Cairo, Egypt. He finds himself drawn to the Corporate Security function’s ability to create positive outcomes for an organization from top to bottom.
With approximately 150 security personnel reporting directly to him, Ahmed and his team are responsible for all events that may threaten the organization’s operations. With such an important mandate, Ahmed finds that adhering to industry-proven best practices effectively ensures success.
He found Corp Security International and become a Professional Member and he says “My Professional Membership has connected me with Corporate Security professionals around the world who also share the common goal of protecting individuals irrespective of wherever they may work in the world. Those connections and insights have helped to improve services with best-in-class programs and procedures that I have brought back to my organization.”
He earned Corp Security International’s Certified Security Manager (CSM) Advanced Security Management Certification in 2022. He says “Part of the value of becoming certified is the invaluable knowledge you gain from CSM body of knowledge and innovative training program. My organization supported me in pursuing my certification because they understand the value this knowledge brings to the organization.”
Now, Ahmed holds the Corp Security International’s Certified Security Manager (CSM) certification, a symbol of excellence in Corporate Security Management. He loves sharing his knowledge and contributes to various Community Groups of Corp Security International.
An especially memorable moment for Ahmed was when he and his team rolled out a new security awareness program for the organization.
“Corporate Security offers you the opportunity to shape the minds, culture, and, ultimately, the behavior of others to create and maintain a safe and secure environment,” he reflects. “This industry allows you to explore creative and proactive ways to help mitigate threats in our ever-changing volatile world.”
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