Security Institute- Experts & Thought Leaders

London’s iconic Shakespeare’s Underglobe Theatre set the stage for the much-anticipated Women in Security Awards 2024. With places booked months in advance, the event was filled, bringing together outstanding women from diverse roles across the security sector.   Talent and dedication Organised annually by Professional Security magazine in collaboration with patron Una Riley, the Women in Security Awards are widely regarded as a prestigious platform celebrating the achievements, contributions, and exceptional leadership of women in the field. 2024’s ceremony was no exception, showcasing the extraordinary talent and dedication that women bring to the wider world of security.  Celebrating achivements Once again, the National Security Inspectorate (NSI), the UK's premier certification body for security and fire safety providers, was a proud sponsor of the awards. NSI extends its congratulations to all of the winners and finalists. In particular, NSI is proud to celebrate the achievements of those representing NSI-approved companies, who were recognised in four of the five award categories:  Security Manager  Amy Stanley – FGH Security (Winner)  Frontline  Christyll-Ann Bryans – CIS Security (Finalist)  Lisa Newton – Sodexo (Finalist)  ​Business Manager  Sophie Harper-Booth – City Group Security (Finalist)​ Technical   Hannah Powell – ASEL (Finalist)  NSI congratulations also go to Lynda Moore, who was honoured with the Baroness Ruth Henig Award.  Strength of women Commenting on the evening’s success, NSI Chief Executive Richard Fogelman said, "It is an absolute privilege to support the Women in Security Awards, an event that continually recognises the incredible contributions women make to our industry." "These awards not only shine a spotlight on their professional excellence but also serve as an inspirational example for the next generation. At NSI, we are committed to fostering diversity and supporting the achievements of all security professionals, and tonight’s celebration is a testament to the strength of women helping to shape the future of this vital sector."

Carlisle Support Services appoints public and private security expert, John Lambert as Managing Director of Security and Events in the North. With a background that stems across 15 years within the public and private sectors, John is well-placed to advise, facilitate, and manage this division for all Carlisle contracts. Responsible for the delivery of the Northern security and events division for the business, he will ensure that the division continues to deliver market-pioneering solutions to the existing contracts within multiple sectors including Healthcare, Manufacturing, Retail and Transport. Perception of the security industry John’s extensive background extends into several voluntary roles including Chair of the Liverpool City Security Council, Deputy Chair of the International Professional Security Association (IPSA), Director of the National Skills Academy for Security, member of the Security Skills Board, and Director of the National Association of Healthcare Security. John holds member status of the Security Institute and the Emergency Planning Society Alongside this, John holds member status of the Security Institute and the Emergency Planning Society. Within these voluntary roles, John campaigns for better working conditions for front-line team members and aims to improve public perception of the security industry. Contract retention and organic growth Chief Operating Officer at Carlisle Support Services, Adrian White said: “Our Northern Division is our largest revenue driver for security services and covers key strategic regions in Manchester, Liverpool, and Birmingham. The last twelve months have seen us implement a firm structure and develop clear operational regions for optimal cross-contract collaboration. We have seen good contract retention and organic growth. John's appointment will cement this position and provide us with a platform for growth. John understands this industry and has the mindset and attitude that we want to take Carlisle forward.” On his appointment, John added: “Since joining Carlisle Support Services in February this year, I have been incredibly impressed at the culture of the business, the professionalism and capability of my colleagues, as well as the strong and often long-term relationships we have built with our customers. To be appointed into the Managing Director role within a business of this quality is an incredibly proud moment for me, and I'm excited for the months and years ahead.”

Vicon Industries is proud to announce its new corporate partnership with The Security Institute, the largest professional membership body for security professionals in the UK. As part of this partnership, Vicon will work closely with The Security Institute to promote the highest standards of security professionalism and provide its members with access to cutting-edge security solutions, technologies, and insight. Author's quote "We are thrilled to partner with The Security Institute, an organisation that shares our commitment to advancing the security profession," said Guy Nixon, Managing Director of Vicon Industries Ltd. He adds, "With our expertise in video management systems and access control solutions, we are confident that we can help The Security Institute and its members stay at the forefront of the industry." Highest standards of professionalism Security Institute promotes ideals of professionalism and virtue in the security industry The Security Institute is dedicated to promoting the highest standards of professionalism and integrity in the security industry. Its members are drawn from a wide range of backgrounds, including security management, consultancy, education, and law enforcement. "We are pleased to welcome Vicon Security onboard as our newest Corporate Partner," added Aniska Hancox, Corporate Partner Administrator at The Security Institute. “We are looking forward to working together with Vicon here at The Security Institute and the new opportunities that they can bring to our members and other Corporate Partners going forward.” Latest trends and developments As part of this partnership, Vicon will offer exclusive discounts on its products and services to members of The Security Institute. In addition, Vicon will provide training and educational resources to help members stay up-to-date with the latest trends and developments in the security industry. Security Institute members will benefit from: Free online training Free design services, consultations, and system audits 50% off Valerus VMS and VAX Access Control BICSI Certifications

As the deal/no deal prospects of Brexit are tossed in a whirlwind of UK and EU politics, the uncertainty of the back-and-forth has broadly impacted general economic trends, and by extension, the physical security market. The new deadline for a Brexit agreement is October 31, already postponed six months from the scheduled April 12 departure date. Numbers show that Britain’s GDP shrank in the second quarter, possibly reflecting fewer exports because of Brexit uncertainty. And beyond the current indecision lies the long-term impact of a possible change in trading status between the United Kingdom and continental Europe. Other issues include capital flow and labor mobility. Brexit uncertainty leading to security concerns Loss of shared information with the EU will make the UK less safe “Companies … are unclear about their future,” comments Martin Warren of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. “Companies are making decisions now about jobs, supply chains, headquarters and asset locations, incurring significant, and possibly unnecessary, cost and upheaval.” Warren fears the destructive effects of a ‘no deal’ outcome and hopes politicians will break the deadlock and restore business confidence. Security implications of Brexit extend beyond economics. Loss of shared information with the EU will make the UK less safe. Extradition across EU borders will be more difficult, and exchange of data such as fingerprints and vehicle registrations is at risk. The Irish border after Brexit is of particular concern to security professionals. Countering threat of international terrorism Robert Hall of London First and Alison Wakefield of Security Institute say the security impact of departing the EU will be long lasting and profound. “In security terms, the UK will still have to contend with international terrorism, transnational crime and the global movement of people, all challenges that require wide scale cooperation.” They add that leaving the EU will require “a significant investment in people, resources and databases to cope with the anticipated volumes of traffic through ports, airports and tunnels.” Analyst company IHS Markit earlier commented about the impact on the security industry of Brexit’s drag on the UK economy, “Access control, intruder and fire alarm markets typically track construction rates closely and are forecast to be affected most. However, a large cut to infrastructure spending would be just as damaging to the video surveillance market.” UK security companies prefer ‘soft exit’ from EU If a ‘soft exit’ trade deal is not negotiated, the UK would have to revert to WTO trade rules If a ‘soft exit’ trade deal is not negotiated, the UK would have to revert to World Trade Organisation (WTO) trade rules, which means tariffs on trade between the UK and the EU, says IHS Markit. There are five British-based access-control and intruder-alarm vendors supplying the European market in significant quantity – each with revenue exceeding $10 million. IHS Markit estimates these companies combined account for less than 10 percent of total European, Middle-Eastern and African (EMEA) market revenues for both industries.  Uncertain future of UK security marketplace Asset protection specialist VPS Security Services has warned that the ongoing Brexit saga will likely lead to a rise in vacant commercial and residential properties as developers and investors are more reluctant to move forward with their UK real estate strategies. Seemingly endless machinations and shifting proposals are making the eventual outcome of Brexit very much a guessing game. Uncertainty translates into a volatile and changing outlook, and the eventual impact on the broader economy is an open question. As a reflection of that economy, the security marketplace will inevitably feel the economic impact, too, not to mention the new security challenges likely to ensue.

The 2017 decision of the British electorate to leave the EU was a shock to many within and beyond the UK. It is one of the most significant decisions in the UK’s history. It reflects a long-running uneasiness with the land mass across the Channel, not only because of geographical separation but also because of cultural disconnection. The UK is one of few European countries not to have been occupied or oppressed since the Norman invasion of 1066, and hence has an independence of spirit which continues to flourish over any practical concerns. It is worth bearing in mind, however, that the UK is leaving (politically) the EU, not Europe. Effect of Brexit on UK security The effect of departing the EU on 29 March 2019 – irrespective of any transitional period – will be long lasting and profound. In security terms, the UK will have still to contend with international terrorism, transnational crime and the global movement of people, all challenges which require widescale co-operation. The UK has traditionally been strong in meeting these risks, and has played a significant role in the development of EU policy on police co-operation and information sharing. The declaration of Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty formally notified the EU of the UK’s departure. After some delay, the UK Government has begun discussions with the EU and published a series of papers that set out its preferences in those discussions. Maintaining a seamless and frictionless border with Ireland is an early requirement from both sides. However, exactly how this is to be achieved is yet to be agreed. In terms of maintaining effective security co-operation with the EU, the aspiration is also high. Reduced access to intelligence Yet when the UK reverts to a third-country relationship with the EU post-departure, access to an organisation like Europol and databases such as the Schengen Information System (SIS II) will be much more limited. If an operational agreement with Europol is already in place when the UK leaves the EU, its departure should not have much effect on the exchange of core intelligence on matters like terrorism: Europol already has operational agreements with 19 third-country states including the USA. The situation will be more problematic if the UK leaves the EU with ‘no deal’, although some reassurance might be drawn from Theresa May’s Florence speech when she said the UK was “unconditionally committed to maintaining Europe’s security”. New arrivals to Britain from the EU will need to be registered in preparation for a new immigration system It is in the area of border and immigration control that real problems look most likely to arise, largely because of the volume of traffic – both people and goods – to be managed. Migration was a key driving force in the EU referendum result, but without a register of EU citizens the UK is handicapped in achieving a declared target. Mrs May confirmed in her Florence speech that new arrivals to Britain from the EU will need to be registered in preparation for a new immigration system at the end of the two-year post-Brexit implementation period that she aims to negotiate. Pressure on immigration checks Significantly, pressures on the day-to-day operation of immigration checks at airports and ports will substantially increase if more passengers are required to have visas to enter the UK unless the system is fundamentally changed. The Border Force budget has already faced enormous pressure, having been reduced by 15% from £617 million in 2012/13 to £558 million in 2015/16 while the number of journeys has increased. Among its longer-term programmes to improve capacity are the Digital Services at the Border (DSaB) programme, the successor to the e-borders programme with the aim of further developing risk-based digital identity management, and the Immigration Platform Technologies programme, which aims to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of visa and other immigration transactions with the public. Illegal migration also needs to be tackled more effectively, as any increased restriction on legitimate travel from countries within Europe has the potential to increase the demand for forged and stolen documentation as well as risk new and more dangerous forms of illegal travel to the UK. Managing customs at UK borders There will also be considerable challenges in managing the flow of goods across UK borders after Brexit. HM Revenue and Customs has estimated that the number of customs declarations at UK sea ports and airports could rise from 60 million to 300 million a year after the UK leaves the EU. The number of customs declarations at UK sea ports and airports could rise from 60 million to 300 million a year An ongoing programme to upgrade the UK’s customs system began before the referendum – before the government committed to seeking a new customs arrangement from March 2019 – and will be inadequate to cope with the substantial increase in customs declarations that will result if the UK leaves the customs union. According to the Road Haulage Association, there is a real danger of ‘everything grinding to a halt’. This will focus minds as the March 2019 deadline approaches and every effort is made to avoid falling off a cliff-edge. Rethinking UK border operations In sum, it is clear that against the backdrop of global migration trends, conflict and economic uncertainty, the challenges faced by the UK in defending its border are significant, and the practical difficulties are likely to be magnified whatever the final nature of the post-Brexit arrangements. This will likely necessitate a major rethink of strategy, processes and, possibly, some substantive changes to existing structures. If only in practical terms, there will have to be a significant investment in people, resources and databases to cope with anticipated volumes of traffic through ports, airports and tunnels. Given budgetary constraints, this task will not be easy. Equally, Brexit does offer the opportunity to rethink operation of the border and further deploy technology in order to realise further efficiencies. However, as is often the case, it is events, as Harold Macmillan once said, that may prove to be the real determinants of the outcome. By Robert Hall, MBCI MSyl and Dr. Alison Wakefield, FSyl

The security industry can be like a house built on sand if there's a lack of professional standards set in place Picture the scene: You’re suffering from a persistent pain and so decide to take a trip to your doctor to get it checked out. You step into the consulting room but, before you can speak, he looks you up and down, haw and hums, and then writes out a prescription. Would you be happy that drugs prescribed in this manner will cure your ailment when your doctor has not even bothered to establish what the problem is? Would you accept this as any sort of professional approach? Of course you wouldn’t, and yet every day, in every corner of the Security Industry, this is exactly what is happening, informs Stephen D Green, Physical Security Sector Champion for the Security Institute Research Directorate Knowledge Centre. Security Managers, faced with an immediate security problem and Directors screaming for action, over-rely on experience, leap to conclusions as to what the solution should be, reach for the catalogue and start ordering. This is why, for example, all too often I will come across vehicle control points in site perimeters equipped with K12 crash-rated roadblockers, when 10 yards to each side of the entrance is a chain-link fence that my kids could punch through. The Security Managers, like the doctor above, have failed to analyse and diagnose the problem, leaving it to chance that the action taken will fit the need. But when the measures put in place fail, it is the Security Managers competence that is drawn into question. All security system designs should be risk-based. Such an approach encourages analysis of evaluation of risks such that priorities may be established Is such criticism fair? After all, Security Managers are only human, and humans use unconscious heuristics, or shortcuts, to achieve their goals. We all have personal biases and comfort-zones (“…it’s what we’ve always done”…), we all benchmark or crib off others (…”it’s what Bill down the road does”…) and we all satisfice (…”it’s good enough and it’s available now”…). And it’s not as if there is a wealth of reliable, independent information out there on which to base procurement decisions; in 2007 Professor Adrian Beck of Leicester University, describing the “data desert” at the heart of the Security Industry, stated that “…if CCTV or EAS were a drug, we would be absolutely appalled at the way it has been introduced and widely used without any rigorous testing of its likely impact on the patient”*.I also wonder if the prevalence of second-careerist, ex-armed forces or police officers in the industry has a bearing; General Colin Powell famously once stated that “…if you have between 40 and 70% of the information required to make a decision, go with your gut”. So what can the poor beleaguered Security Manager do to improve this situation? The answer is simple; all security system designs should be risk-based. Such an approach encourages analysis of causality and evaluation of risks such that priorities may be established, leading to problem-oriented solutions which, most importantly, are justifiable before a Company Board being asked to provide funding. An initial and comprehensive risk analysis assessment should be executed prior to purchasing products for the system Risk was defined in the seminal 1992 Royal Society report as “..the probability that a particular adverse event occurs during a stated period of time, or results from a particular challenge.”** There are many variants of quantified risk assessment process around the world, including the relatively-new ISO31000 standard, which developed out of the AS/NZS 4360 standard. Alternatively a good method, widely used within the petrochemical industries, is the American Petroleum Institute Security Vulnerability process. All of these various methods share a number of common features: Risk Identification –Identifying and characterising all critical assets and the specific threats facing them Risk Analysis – Identifying from the list of all possible risks those which are credible given the existing vulnerabilities , the counter-measures already in place and the capabilities of the adversary Risk Evaluation – Assigning a numerical, ordinal value against each risk to allow ranking and prioritisation of effort The level of understanding required to achieve this can only come from careful and continuous stakeholder engagement to ensure a good cross section of views and opinions; it cannot come from one person, or indeed one discipline, in isolation. The perception of risk is influenced by too many factors to describe here, but suffice to say that it is subjective, personal and experiential in nature. This is why some people read a book or walk the dog at weekends whilst others throw themselves out of perfectly good aeroplanes or climb up the side of mountains. Even risk-based technical counter-measures are only of use when deployed in support of a set of good, well-thought out security policies, procedures and practices on which staff have been trained and exercised Risk management is inherently a group activity, and should be iterative to reflect the changing nature of threat environments. The outcome of the risk assessment process should be a document, known variously as a security treatment plan or a Concept of Operations, which outlines the way the proposed new counter-measures are intended to work. From this it should be possible to define a detailed Operational Requirement for every device, listing its intended functionality and any technical performance criteria it needs to comply to. Later, following implementation, it is these two documents that will close the circle by verifying the installation delivers that which was intended at the outset.  Of course, it must be acknowledged that getting the technical element right is only part of the solution. Security is a sociotechnical system; it is made up of technical and human elements. Even risk-based technical counter-measures are only of use when deployed in support of a set of good, well-thought out security policies, procedures and practices on which staff have been trained and exercised. Remove any of these elements and the project can only fail. Therefore, paraphrasing Mathew 7:26, the Security Industry can often be “…likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand”. If the industry wishes to present itself as professional, it needs to adopt professional standards of evidence-based and methodical design rather than the haphazard guesswork which remains all too prevalent today. * - Beck, A. (2007a) The Emperor Has No Clothes: What Future Role for Technology in Reducing Retail Shrinkage? Security Journal, Volume 20, pp57–61 ** - Royal Society (1992) Risk, Analysis, Perception and Management. London. Author