As security professionals, we are often asked how we prioritize our workloads. Our response usually focuses on preparing for likely future threats. If we are involved in the movement of classified equipment, that will involve mobilizing a host of liaison personnel to assist us as equipment moves cross-country or across nations and seas. If we need to assure our leadership that we understand the threat in a new area for future plant construction, or for a new government office, the actions look much the same. We’d reach out to local authorities to better fine-tune the threat assessment for the area. If we were asked to establish an emergency response center, we’d need to ensure we had the latest equipment. After all, the mission is response, so the faster and more reliable the response, the better.
Address the What’s Required
Take the requirements for an emergency center. Where are the corporate facilities located? Are they all on one compound? What would we do if we needed to respond quickly to an incident? First, our response team needs to be identified. They need to know where and how to respond. Do we have a dedicated emergency room set up, complete with prepared computers, graphic boards, or other facilities our team could use on a moment’s notice? This gets them established and started. Next, that team needs to figure out how to respond to the incident. Today there are drones on the market that claim to be able to respond within seventy seconds to an emergency call. If that is true, what would that response consist of? Would the drone be able to work at night? What sort of night-vision devices does the drone have? Do our team members need night-vision goggles themselves? Are the capabilities of the drone sufficient to protect it from being shot down, jammed, or otherwise electronically incapacitated? Do you have someone trained to operate the required machines? All these questions need to be answered to properly organize a potential operation. Exercises are always helpful for such exigencies. Consider this example. The dreaded phrase, used during one emergency practice exercise, was, “Now this man has a heart attack. Who will take over?” Had this not happened in my own experience, I’d consider it far-fetched. Nevertheless, it did happen, and we must have sufficient personnel depth to backstop any contingency.
As has become evident, knowledge of the hardware available to organize for contingencies is imperative. Sending personnel to conferences where companies demonstrate new equipment on the market is essential. You don’t want to be the one who brings an Edsel to a Talladega race. Consider.
Identify and Respond
Once an incident is identified and a response is organized, action toward resolution begins. Investigations are initiated, reports are written and filed, interviews take place, photographs of the scene are made, and specialist reports are assembled. Let’s say a bomb went off at a subordinate plant facility. Contacts with local authorities would be initiated, and they too would issue reports.
Once we begin to analyze how we take actions, new questions arise. Thus, questions of preparations for action take over. Do we have someone or a device that can translate what is being said to us? Who or what will collate our various incoming reports? Do we have an AI device that can do the lion’s share of this work for us? After all, we need a simple, easy-to-understand, easy-to-operate capability to summarize actions. Once summarized, we then need to distribute the new information to those needing it. We need this to proceed properly and to regularly brief our higher headquarters on the progress of the incident under review. What actions have been accomplished, and what actions are next? It is said that over 90% of law enforcement now believes in AI assistance to complete its various missions. Do we need to write out absolutely everything over and over when computer assistance is available to save time and further investigate? It is always true: no agency is fully manned or fully up to speed on modern equipment. Anything which can supplement our work is desirable. Who would turn down AI-summarized events if they are literally available at the click of a button for a superior official stopping by for an update? After all, that official might be the one to thank for having the work-enhancing device in the first place. Human nature being what it is, he or she would gladly add to your store of work-enhancing devices if he saw firsthand how well his previous decision solved a security incident. Try out devices, see what works!
