By: Gustaf Bylund, Head of Digitalization, Global Clients, Securitas Group
Over the past several years, companies worldwide invested more into their digital transformation efforts; the security threat landscape has grown alongside this investment. New digital tools and avenues have increased the number and type of risks companies face, and they’re evolving almost constantly.
Despite expanding digitalization, organizations’ security programs have not kept pace. Without adequate digital tools and data, companies cannot adjust their security solutions dynamically to meet current and emerging risks head-on. Lagging security opens organizations to more intrusions, attacks and incidents.
Achieving favorable security outcomes requires organizations to adopt a dynamic, data-driven approach toward managing risks and coverage. How do you create and implement this kind of security program?
Understanding the Data-Driven Security Approach
The threat landscape is changing faster than ever, meaning security teams need quicker, more adaptable responses to better manage risks. Yet, many organizations struggle with making dynamic adjustments to compensate for evolving threats. This is happening for several reasons:
● Many security programs still operate in silos and are unable to link risks, coverage, and outcomes.
● The tools and platforms available have historically been outdated and immature compared to other industries.
● Contracting, pricing, and management processes aren’t flexible enough for dynamic adjustments.
● Other rigid, hierarchical processes in security work, such as frontline guard management, make change difficult.
Despite an increasingly digital environment, the security industry lags behind most industries adopt digital solutions into their operations. Collecting useful data from security operations in the field isn’t always straightforward. It requires a deeper understanding of how tools and data-driven models inform security improvements and a willingness to break through the status quo and push for change.
Organizations can start addressing these challenges through digitalization efforts. Digital solutions can manipulate data and derive insights to build more comprehensive security programs based on smart analysis. Digitalized security programs help teams proactively address their companies’ security risks and improve responses to prevent future incidents.
Developing Your Data Gathering Capabilities
Core to successful digitalization is adopting a data-driven security approach. In this approach, security teams systematically capture and analyze relevant data, then use generated insights to optimize risk assessments, coverage measures, and outcomes continuously. Rather than operating these elements in silos through manual processes, a data-driven program dynamically links them through digital tools to develop more informed, evidence-based decisions that adapt to changing risks and conditions.
Begin by capturing security-related data across your organizations. Common places to start gathering information include:
● Detailed data on active security risks, vulnerabilities, and threats
● Equipment data like access control systems and cameras
● Tracking tools worn by security guards to monitor their movements
These data points help power various organizational tools to make data-driven security decisions. For instance, 3D modeling tools can incorporate facility data and develop interactive maps to illustrate risks to buildings. Risk intelligence platforms can track various data sources to alert security teams of threats and how they evolve in real time to quickly adjust responses.
Teams can also conduct root cause analyses of incidents using security outcomes data like response times, suspect identification information, and after-incident reports. Analyses supported by sufficient data increase a team’s confidence in recommended risk management and coverage improvements.
Of course, implementing digital solutions and gathering data involves many organizational stakeholders, especially frontline staff like guards. Resistance to change is one of the leading causes of new tool adoption, making it vital for team leaders to earn buy-in across their organizations. As frontline staff will be responsible for generating useful data, you want them to believe in the process to reduce resistance and help realize successful outcomes.
Communicate with staff about why you’re changing specific systems or processes and provide best practices for performance. Also, consider additional training opportunities to resolve staff’s skills or knowledge gaps. These steps build important competencies and help break down barriers between organizational levels and departments.
Positioning Security for an AI-Powered Future
Digitalization leads to opportunities to improve today’s security postures; it also prepares you for more advanced future needs and threats from emerging technology like artificial intelligence. A recent survey of senior enterprise security decision-makers found that 46% of respondents believe AI’s primary benefit lies in automating response actions or repetitive tasks like alert triage. Yet, four out of ten respondents felt their current teams lacked sufficient skills and resources to prepare for AI’s assistance in security operations.
The need for skilled talent and consistent data operations means adopting data-driven approaches now will help organizations develop key competencies and processes. As future AI capabilities emerge, your security teams will have data and systems ready to take full advantage.
What might that AI-powered future look like? Consider a typical program for managing guards.While current security tools offer some abilities to optimize operations, AI can further hone andimprove those results by analyzing granular data at levels humans simply cannot. AI couldreview detailed guarding data to determine optimal staffing levels, patrol routes, and likeliest times when risks might emerge.
Over time, additional data informs greater insights into potential changes to security procedures and task lists, delivered in real-time through integrated digital interfaces. It could recommend smart technology applications to augment human guards’ abilities while optimizing the whole program for cost efficiency. Soon, data and AI could power real-time security monitoring, risk mitigation and program optimization in a way impossible today.
Digitalization Unlocks Dynamic Security Solutions
The future is digital, and companies cannot wait to implement digital solutions in their security programs. Dynamic adaptation to current and future threats is the lynchpin of a successful security program, and systems must evolve to meet these challenges head-on.
The digitalization journey starts by adopting a data-driven approach to security. Understand your available sources of information and other places where you can gather data about your operations. Lead conversations that reach across departments and break down operational silos. Change takes consistent effort, but it leads to better security outcomes and more efficient processes supported by a healthy data pipeline.
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About the Author
Gustaf Bylund serves as Head of Digitalization, Global Clients at Securitas Group. He has spent the past decade leading organizations through digital transformations, delivering cutting-edge technology solutions. He continues this work at Securitas Group, where he leads the digitalization of security solutions worldwide. Gustaf lives in Stockholm, Sweden.
