Electronic Technologies vs Non-electronic Technologies

Many folks think this is the question to ask themselves, “Since there is so much electronic technology out there that can replace the human being, then that must be enough”.  Actually it’s more of a way of thinking than it is a question.

Security companies have been especially good over the last few years in getting people to believe that their “new widget” is the end-all solution to the security dilemma.  The reality is electronic technology is a tool to be used by a person for assessment and analysis.  Ultimately, a human must decide what action to take. 

Having returned this week from the largest U.S. security industry tradeshow, ISC-West 2017, in Vegas I can tell you there were tens of thousands of people looking for the latest “widget”.  Hundreds of companies were professing to have “THE solution”.  Granted a lot of progress has been made in the past few years in regards to taking away some of the pitfalls in the security industry.  Number one among them is the issue of complacency that comes with standing or sitting monotonous hours of guard duty.  Through intelligent analytics and predictive analysis software programs can assist with the assessment.  While helpful, in the end a human must decide how to respond.

Which brings us to the use of non-electronic technologies.  Security is an everybody business.  It cannot be left up to guard personnel or the police.  It takes everyone’s “eyes and ears”.  Smart companies provide security awareness training to their staff on a regular basis.  The training must include how to recognize “wanted and unwanted” behavior, when and how to report it and to whom.  Training should also include when to intervene without jeopardizing their own safety or those around them and when reporting unwanted behavior is the first and only course of action.  While routine, it cannot be done every Friday afternoon nor can it be the same scenario week after week.  The Post Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act, Public Law 109-29, recognizes that training and drills must be a mix of “live, virtual and constructive” scenarios.  While this legislation applies to exercise planning for government agencies the same holds true for non-disaster type training in the private sector.  Interactive scenarios that challenge staff to think, sometimes outside of the box, will go a long way in making them ready for whatever comes their way.

Relying solely on electronic technologies is not the answer.  Nor is it a good idea to exclude these technologies in today’s world.  Electronics provide assistance.  They should be treated that way – as a tool that helps us do our jobs.  Likewise, procedures and policies, including awareness and training, are not definitive solutions either. A good security program will have a combination of electronic technologies intertwined with non-electronic technologies for the protection of all.

Do-It-Yourself (DIY) or Credentialed Security Consultant, That Is the Question

My brother built his house.  He borrowed a back-hoe and dug the hole.  He set the foundation and built his house from the ground up.  I look at him and say, “why can’t I even drive a nail straight?”  Well, there are two reason, first he has the knowledge and secondly, he had the right tools.  I, on the other hand, don’t have the knowledge nor have I ever purchased any tools.  Oh sure, I can unplug the toilet or figure out that a fuse is blown but much more than that, I’m in the dark.  The pun was not intentional, I swear. 

This got me to thinking.  Whenever I have something around the house that needs more than my minimum skills I have to call someone.  They usually arrive and the first thing they ask is, “Who did this?” as they look at the thousand mile-an-hour tape or screwdriver wedged against the window or the string hanging from where the handle should be on the screen door.  Then they go about fixing it and charging me the equivalent of a mortgage payment.  They leave with a smile on their face and say, “Call us before you try to FIX IT again.  You’ll save money in the long run”. 

I asked my brother, where he got his knowledge and he told me that he asked lots of questions to people in the know and when he needed to, he bought or rented the tools.  If they had the skill set for roofing he asked roofing questions, same for plumbing and so on.  I was glad when he told me this because up to this point, I thought my Dad shared house building skills with him but not with me.  I was made at my Dad.  Forgive me Dad.

Well, the same holds true in security.  There are projects you can do on your own and there are things you really should get an expert to handle.  With the advancement in technologies in recent months you can basically, “plug and play” all types of electronic security systems.  This is a good thing.  I remember a day when programming the VCR was a disaster.  Even though my English is pretty good, I could never understand the instructions.  I had to get a friend to do it for me.  But back to security.  Electronic security systems have become sophisticated but you don’t have to be an “IT geek” to use them.  Most can be monitored on your phone with an App download.

But, if you’re going to assess your property and take a holistic approach you probably want someone with knowledge in vulnerability assessment/risk analysis or in developing mitigation strategies or someone with a Physical Security Engineering (PSE, SPSE or MPSE) designation.  If you have a very large project or are worried about cost overruns, you could also get someone with credentials from the Security Industry Association (SIA) in project management or a Certified Security Project Manager (CSPM®).  Another reputable organization is the American Society of Industrial Security (ASIS), which provides a variety of designations.   The security consultant having one of these credentials or designation is your guarantee that the person doing the job has the right tools sets and the knowledge to use them.

DIY is okay but remember one thing; good advice has a cost but free advice may cost you more.

FOUR TRICKS TO THE PRINCIPLES OF

EFFECTIVE PHYSICAL SECURITY DETECTION

 I recently had a newcomer to the security business ask me, “So, how would you describe what security is?”  I looked at her like, what a stupid that question is.  But after I thought for a second, actually it was a pretty good question.  A question many of us would provide varying definitions of.   My answer was pretty short.  Security is, the detection of behavior – good, we reward; i.e., password or PIN and we allow you access to the computer or ATM, bad, we deny access. 

Simple, right?  Yes.  So, the questions become, “How do we ensure effectiveness?  How do WE determine good or bad behavior?  Where should we do it? And, how do we make sure we know the difference?”

AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE

Detect activity as far from the asset, thing you’re trying to protect, as possible.  We want to detect all behavior.  Then we can decide if it’s good or bad.  Good behavior – we allow access and bad – we don’t.  When it comes to valuables or assets, anything of value can be considered an asset.  An asset is something you place value on.  It could be a building, a process, an object or people.  Even my crazy cousin back in Indiana could be considered an asset.  Ok, well maybe not my cousin.  But you get the gist.

An asset doesn’t have to have value to the owner.  As long as it has value to somebody, then it is an asset.  I guess that means my cousins back in.

We want to protect those things we value at the furthest opportunity we can afford; either at the property line or even before, if possible.  Usually we do this by defining our property line.  We use fences or signs or other materials that say, “Hey, this is my space, so stay over there and I don’t care what you do, but come over here.  I want to know about it”.  In the old days, we had to post a guard to detect penetration.  Today, we can use electronic technologies that assist us in detecting when people come into our space.

You can access my article “More Power to the Perimeter” starts on page 31. http://issuu.com/securitymiddleeastmagazine/docs/sme_july-_aug_2015_web?e=0/14330179

IT’S ABOUT DETECTING UNWANTED BEHAVIOR

Electronic or non-electronic detection, it really doesn’t matter.  It’s about detecting behavior and then deciding if it should be rewarded (allowed entry) or not (denied access).  I often ask my students if they think we should detect all behavior or just the “bad”.  Most say, just the “bad”.  We don’t have the time to watch everything.  Well, actually we do. It’s just that we’re a lot quicker in rewarding “good” behavior than when something wrong happens.  As long as the rules are followed, everything’s fine.  Let someone forget their badge or password and well, and then the problems start.

BEST DETERRENCE IS A WELL-TRAINED STAFF (YOU WERE EXPECTING ME TO SAY GUARD FORCE, WEREN’T YOU?)

Actually, having a well trained staff in knowing what constitutes good behavior is the best deterrence you can achieve.  Trained staff is a force multiplier.  That means more eyes on your environment.  Trust me; your staff knows when things are out of place or when something is just not right.  That doesn’t mean you’re going to get them to “rat” on each other but you can get them to think about protecting themselves and their colleagues.  I recently read an article about the creation of open office spaces adding to efficiency and productivity.  The psychological impact of the space adds to a sense of belonging and our natural instinct to protect ourselves and each other.  Use that to your advantage.

Teach folks what “suspicious” looks like, when and how to report it and when it’s okay to intervene themselves without getting hurt.  Sometimes “bad” behavior can be corrected on the spot.  Other times the “authorities” need to get involved.  When reporting suspicious behavior, describe the “bad guy/gal” by comparing them to yourself; i.e., taller than me, heavier than me, blond hair like me.  While clothes description are important folks should focus on things that are less likely to be changed quickly; shoes or pants, complexion, color and length of hair.  The responding forces will need to know if any weapons were involved and if anyone has been hurt and where to find you.

DRILLS & EXERCISE STAFF & GUARD FORCE (OFTEN, CREATIVELY AND REWARDING)

Administrators and decision makers can increase the likelihood of detecting unwanted behaviors by conducting routine, periodic and creative drills.  Some drills should be done just for small groups, while others should involve everyone.  Sometimes with the guard forces and sometimes the guard should train alone.  There’s a difference between “preparedness” and “readiness”.  “Preparedness” is having material stockpiled and “readiness” is knowing where to get materials and what to do with them.

Follow me on twitter @hainessecurity for more security tips.

Acknowledging Your Own Behavior in

Becoming a Stronger Leader

We all know the stories of how life used to be when we were younger. Even better remember the tales your parents, grandparents told you over and over about how life used to be easier, safer back in the good old days? You could leave the door open and nobody would take anything from your house? It is safe to say the world has changed so much. That sense of security found in the community and groups our grandparents talk about has been overshadowed by the focus on individual achievement. It seems we experience more pressure, more speed, and more complexity and consequently more fear.  Fear of the unknown.  Fear of things we can control and extreme fear from those we can’t.  “Not being good enough”, or not fitting into our collective peer groups, or being able to compete on all levels in today’s very competitive and complex societies all fuel this anxiety.  Our personal behavioral issues are not the only thing we have to worry about.  We also have to react to events that we can’t control yet affect us somehow none the less.  Dealing with terrorist or other types of criminal behaviors or even our psychotic neighbors adds to that angst. The reasons behind these fears are an interesting point of research.  To me, what is even more interesting is the idea that we can overcome this fear by controlling it.  While we can’t control every situation, many of which are outside our realm of personal influence, we can control how we react to each situation, whether from an innate moral perspective or a learned one.

People have a profound need to feel safe.  It’s a basic human instinct.  In order to do that, people need to be able to protect themselves and their loved ones by any means possible. Unfortunately, due to the increased focus on individual talents and lack of group cohesiveness an individual must most often “fend for themselves”.  This means an individual must deploy mental and physical strategies.  Since most of us aren’t big enough to just “pound some sense into” the other guy, we must rely on our mental abilities to defuse or de-escalate the situation before it becomes physical. 

What if the alienation of society and the “stand alone” approach is exactly why we got here in the first place?  Remember the stories about the good old days?

We at BLACK believe that the key lies in returning the stability of the community through individual effort.  By bringing this aggravated anxiety level to a more acceptable one within the individual, society can function as it should.  At BLACK we not only look at the community in general, but also within a company or a team of people.  Our way of working focuses on the individual’s improvement. Being aware of your own strengths and having confidence in using them in your own environment benefits the society as a whole.

Companies, groups and teams of people manifest the same characteristics as individuals and therefore, experience the exact same problems, albeit on a different scale. Results driven, “the bottom line” and ICT are the key words within which any (major) organization operates these days.  Even though people are considered the most important asset, in general, we seem to misplace the personal touch due to the pressures of results minded actions.  We get so lost in the management process that we lose sight of the individual’s contribution toward the whole.  This process of managing people as just another asset in the company inventory doesn’t allow for the organization to achieve its true potential.  The days of sound management are over, and the move from efficiency to productivity is starting. To achieve productivity, organizations must have effective leaders.  Leaders can only guide an organization to achieve greatness, if they recognize and acknowledge their own weaknesses and strengths.  A long-term self-actualization process is needed.  With the world’s increasing population and the burden of more complex societies the need for leadership will become paramount.  While the focus will be on efficient and effective system management, it will only be achieve through the transformation from sound management to truly effective and inclusive leadership.  In the future, leaders will play a greater part in every organization and will be essential to all organizational structures – both, private and public, large and small. 

Through our B.L.A.C.K. methodology we provide leaders the skills they need for organizational success by inspiring them to acknowledge their own personal behavior traits.  By doing so, they gain confidence in their abilities to motivate team members “toward greater things”.                                        

Within our vision of training, we firmly believe that we can achieve these goals by changing the way individuals and groups reacted to situations.  We have no illusion in thinking we can  banish criminality, threats or unwanted behavior as a whole, but we believe we can be a factor in creating more self-awareness by acknowledging how we all contribute to the feeling of fear, environmental pressure and loss of control.  All authority figures will play a huge part in this vision. After all he or she must lead by example and create a feeling of a calm and safe environment. Community members, whether within an organization or a neighborhood, must have a sense of confidence in their leaders because of their ability to create “safe environments”.  Only then can we degrade fear and go from “standing-alone” to “standing together”.  In the last year we have seen an escalation in the appalling interaction between private and public authorities and the societies they govern. There is no need to point fingers as to who is to blame, but perhaps we can all take a good look at ourselves and make the decision to do better by being better.

To quote a great leader, President Thomas Jefferson:

“ Laws made by common consent must not be trampled on by Individuals. It is very much the Interest of the good to force the unworthy into their due Share of Contributions to the Public Support, otherwise the burthen on them will become oppressive indeed.”

BLACK

BLACK is a Dutch company specialized in leadership training.  It is run by (former) armed forces with a high success rate. For further information we kindly refer to our website http://www.cpk-black.com

THE 5 MINUTE/5 DAY PLAN TO KEEP BURGLARS AWAY FOR

HOME AND BUSINESS OWNERS

Whether you’re a business owner or a homeowner “security” is about the protection of stuff and the people who use that stuff.  In the case of the business owners, that stuff is the store premises, the merchandise, the customers and employees.  At home, it’s about family members, keepsakes and property.  Even though, the stuff we are protecting is different, the concepts are the same.  They differ in application.  Good security means keeping someone from taking that stuff.  So, let’s look at what the business owner can do that the home owner can do as well.  For the next five days, we’ll spend 5 minutes each day taking steps that will keep would be “bad guys” away.

DAY 1 – From the outside looking in.  Stand on the outside of your property, beyond the property line or boundary and look at what you see.  You must do this on all sides of your property.  Remember, the “bad guy” will exploit your vulnerabilities no matter where he/she finds them.

Business/Homeowners – Look for avenues of approach, especially those that will allow access undetected.  If they exist, remove them to the maximum extent possible.  Since most likely you won’t be able to remove them entirely, add features that will assist you with detection; i.e., lighting, barriers (barriers slow forward movement or channel it).  The goal is to make it so that if the would-be perpetrator choses that route you will slow him/her down enough to detect him/her.  Warning:  CCTV is not a detection tool, so don’t think you can put a camera for detection.  CCTV is an assessment tool and as such, must be monitored 24/7 so that someone can assess the unwanted behavior, AND you must have a response force capable of responding within minutes.  If not, the “bad guy” will not get caught.  Another misconception is that, by putting a camera it will allow the police to catch the bad guy later.  Fact is less than one percent of the time this is true.  So, chances are you’d be wasting your money.

DAY 2 – Repeat Day 1 activities.  Return to the property line only this time at night or during hours of darkness.  Again, what do you see?  Additionally, look for any burned out exterior lights.  Lights are an effective tool in assisting assessment of unwanted behavior.  Bad guys don’t like light because it increases their chances of being caught.  

DAY 3 – Access points.  Walk to the nearest point of the structure where you would enter.  Then walk to the next one and so on until all access points have been looked at.

Business – This is usually an established entry/doorway from the public side-walk.  Check the locking mechanism.  Does the door fit snuggly against the frame?  Could someone “jimmy” the door open with a tool?  Don’t forget about your windows.  They can also provide access.  Just because they are large it doesn’t mean they won’t get broken.  The application of a fragmentation retention film (FRF), if installed properly, may assist with keeping the window intact and from being shattered.

Homeowners – This probably means that in the front of the house the access points would be the front door and any windows.  Check them for functionality.  Do this on all sides.

DAY 4 – Storage areas (shed/storage room/ garage)

Business – This may mean a separate structure or internal warehouse/storage room.  Observe the method of entry.  Can the door be secured when not in use?  Is the door monitored?  Does it need to be?  If a free-standing building, check all sides.

Home owner – If you have an outside building, such as, a storage shed where the lawn mowers, bicycles, etc. are stored, make sure there’s a lock that works.  Just because the shed is in the backyard, it doesn’t mean, a “bad guy” won’t get in to it.  If the bikes/lawnmower are stored in the garage, check the garage door that leads to the side or back yard.  Don’t forget about the car/driveway door.  Does it lock?  My wife always locks the door from the garage that leads into our laundry room and subsequently, in to our house.  Good job Honey! 

DAY 5 – Check your internal spaces. 

Business –  I was in a coffee shop the other day and noticed that they were using a laptop and a tablet for processing payments.  Both were left unattended on the counter.  It would have been real easy for an opportunists to grab the laptop or tablet and run out.  All they needed to do to reduce their risk was place the items behind the counter or on a shelf underneath and to take them out only when they used them.  If you own a business that stays open late or 24 hours, there are special considerations you need to make.  Primarily for the protection of your people/staff.  Remember, stuff can be replaced.  That’s why we have insurance.  People can’t.

Homeowners – The most common place for people to store valuables in their home is in their master bedroom.  Thieves know this.  Consider storing your valuables somewhere else that’s secure.  Just because you have a wall safe it doesn’t mean your stuff is secure.  The wall safe can be taken out of the wall if given enough time.  Remember, slow “bad guys” down so you can detect their behavior.

More tips and tools available at https://hainessecuritysolutions.com/Technology_Improvements  or by calling 805 509-8655.

The Really Big Fat Stupid Thing the Media is doing to help the Terrorist and They Don’t Even Know It, or Do They?

Times Square car bombing attempt. Sandy Hook. San Bernardino. Pulse Night Club.  Any College Campus shooting.  Take your pick.

Each time there is an incident involving mass murder or attempted mass murder the media is all over it with their “Breaking News” or “This Just In” coverage.  They call out the “Big Dog” correspondents and send them to the scene.  They get panels of “experts” with very sexy titles and ask them questions, so that they can glorify the perpetrator by associating them with terrorist groups.   They almost always say, “Well, Chet it’s too early to tell but….”.  What people hear is the “but ….” because they’ve associated these murderers with terrorist organizations.  They are now legitimate. The media arm of the terrorist organizations just loves the compliment and they exploit it in their propaganda and quite effectively I might add.  Additionally, they exploit any speech from the US about the mistreatment of its citizens or the failures and uncertainties of western governments.  This plays right into the hands of the propaganda machine.  For their part, there is no failure or mistreatment or uncertainties as it all fuels the narrative of dominance for the cause.

The western media, primarily in the US, has turned the news into a type of reality show, with sensational headlines, you heard it here first acclamations and the like.  They’ve effectively, knowing or unknowing, turned the news cycle into entertainment.  The rush to “get the scope” and break the news that the murderer is connected or wanted to be affiliated with a terrorist group is their top priority because “it sells copies”.  So, I think they, the media, have done it knowingly in order to gain the top spot in the ratings.  The rush to be on top in turn gets more advertising which in turn makes them money.  And that’s the bottom-line.  The shareholders want them to maximize profits so they get the best return on their investment.  It doesn’t matter that the narrative fuels terrorist because it gives their cause a certain amount of legitimacy.  While this is shameful on a variety of levels, I can’t blame the shareholders.  I can and do blame the media though, because this is where the “rubber meets the road” and it’s the only place in the news cycle process that can affect the outcome of what we see and hear.

There have been many more actual terrorists attacks executed outside of the United States in the last, insert number of years.  Many, in fact, the clear majority carried out by actual “card carrying members”.  When a suicide bomber blows himself or herself up, there is no “I wanted to be part of that group”.  They are or more poetically were part of that group.  A couple of recent attacks come to mine, e.g., the attack at the Brussels airport and the attack at the military base in northern India.  In both cases, these “bad guys” were members of actual terrorist cells and carried out their mission to kill the enemy – any non-believers.  The incidents were reported locally for a short period and globally for an even shorter period.  And some very recent low-sophistication style attacks have barely received coverage.  This is what needs to happen here.

Whenever there is a mass murder in the US, especially in a public place, the media immediately floats the idea that it is somehow terrorist related.  In the clear majority of these incidents, we see that they were “wanna be’s” and amateurs, at best.  For example, it seems to me, that the guy in Orlando was a gay guy that couldn’t cope with his identity because of his upbringing and scorn within his community, so he lashed out at the innocent victims enjoying their evening and claimed jihadist affiliation to justify his actions.  And, the media helped him obtain this affiliation but calling him a jihadist.  They legitimized his actions.  Instead, they should have called him what he was, a murderer or better yet a “piece of S… that preyed on the innocent.

I’ve been confused before.  As I’m sure most of us have, not about our sexually, but about life in general.  But I’ve never had the thought that I should go kill some people on a campus, at work or at a club because of it.

One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.

The media should keep that in mind, when they rush to make this connection between the perpetrator of a criminal act and its relationship to terrorism - in essence, legitimizing them and their cause.  Most of the time it’s just not there, even if they really, really want it to be, you know for entertainment’s sake.

They We're My Boys, too!

They We're My Boy's, Too!

One afternoon, this past summer I was watching TV with my 11 year old grandson.  He said, “Grandpa, what do you do?”  I responded, “I teach architects, engineers and security people how to incorporate security into building design”.  His next question was more of a statement, “so that’s why you travel all over”.  “Yep”, I said.  “But why do you do that”, he went on.  So, I told him, “when you see all that stuff on the TV about terrorism, well, that stuff’s personal to me”.  He asked why and I told him my story about being at Rhein–Main Air Base when the dead Marines were brought back after the Beirut bombing.  

See full story in My View Blog from October 2015 here http://hssview.blogspot.com/ . 

We went back to watching TV.

A few hours past, then he came to me while I was in my office checking emails, and gave me a really big hug and said, “Thank you for keeping Grandma, Mom, Dad and me safe”.  “You’re welcome Philip. Now you can do something for me. Be the best YOU, you can be, to make sure that what I’ve done was worth it”.  “Okay, Grandpa I will, I promise”, he replied.  He went back to playing and I went back to doing what I’ve been doing since October 1983, thinking that those Marines, my country, my friends and especially my family and doing what I can to protect them. 

I finish each workshop I do telling the students why I'm there.  I tell them about the 283 Marines that were killed by terrorist and the event that changed who I am.  Over the years I've told this story many, many times, and yet, every time I get emotional - even 33 years on.  You see, they were my boys too!