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Security Consultancies

Total security solutions: an intuitive approach

Human beings have evolved into remarkably sophisticated total security systems, designed to sense and solve problems that threaten survival in hostile environments. However, in an advanced “civilized” society, this intuitive capability is not always fully utilised or even appreciated, which can often lead to a costly over-reaction to an event or, at the other extreme, a deadly muted or non-existent reaction. We typically only draw upon this instinctive capability when placed in a hostile environment where we seek to survive by:

1. Accessing an intuitive database of goals that an adversary could have in mind;

2. Associating these goals with a set of threats (threat profile) that the adversary would initiate to achieve a particular goal; and then

3. Using our five senses for surveillance, acquisition, tracking, interrogation and verification (SATIV) of threats – within the threat profile – to assess the intentions of the adversary so that an appropriate measured response can be initiated.

A simple example would be a soldier lost in an environment in which there are both hostile and friendly forces. Before encountering an unknown group the soldier would instinctively perform a SATIV analysis using his five senses recognising that the threat profile for the hostile group would revolve around stealthy actions designed to keep the lost soldier unaware of its location, while the friendly group’s behaviour would be designed to reveal its location to the soldier.

Therefore, the soldier would tune his five senses to differentiate between stealthy action associated with the hostile troops’ threat profile and the more visible activities of his colleagues. The soldier’s “measured response” to stealthy behaviour would be to retreat after verifying the presence of hostile troops, whereas the measured response to visible activities would be to advance after verifying the presence of friendly troops. 

Today’s security systems fall short of providing “total security solutions.” They simply extend and enhance our five senses through technology. For example, surveillance across the electromagnetic (Imaging) and acoustical (Sonar) spectrum is a technological extension of our senses of sight and hearing.  Radar is simply an extension of our sense of touch, while the detection of high explosives and bacterial pathogens is an extension of our senses of taste and smell.

It’s true that advanced technological tools can play an important role in the surveillance, acquisition, tracking and interrogation of sophisticated threats, but this does not constitute a truly total security solution. What’s needed is for the copious amounts of data generated by security systems to be considered in a manner that verifies threats associated with the threat profile of an aggressor’s goals. 

Without understanding the aggressor’s goals and the threats associated with those goals this data is essentially useless; it would be difficult, if not impossible, to verify the aggressor’s intentions, which is needed to drive an appropriate measured response. Without integrating an aggressor’s goals and associated threat profiles with data acquired by a security system, first responders either don’t act at all or, on the other end of the spectrum, completely over-react.

For example, the UK CCTV User Group estimates that there are 1.5 million CCTV public space surveillance cameras in city centers, stations, airports and major retail areas. But there is little evidence that the data from these cameras is used to deter crime. A 2008 Report by UK Police Chiefs concluded that only 3 per cent of crimes were solved by CCTV surveillance data. At the other extreme, in 2008, a man carrying a backpack thought to contain explosives scaled a perimeter fence at Heathrow days before the opening of the new Terminal 5. He managed to make his way onto the active field before being arrested, closing a runway for hours and causing numerous flight delays and cancellations. There were no explosives.

The most serious problem faced by today’s security infrastructure is the inability to react to security breaches with intelligent, measured responses that minimise escalation of breaches and prevent unnecessary costs. Oncam Global is dedicated to solving this problem and designs true total security solutions by integrating threat profiles associated with the goals of an aggressor with our advanced surveillance, acquisition, tracking, integration and verification (SATIV) process and technologies – so that intelligent measured responses can be initiated.

When the human instinct to survive is seamlessly coupled with advanced technology, inappropriate, costly responses can be avoided and, most important, ultimate safety enhanced.

James Ionson, Ph.D., is CEO, Oncam Global Group. He was a member of the U.S. Department of  Defense Senior Executive Service credited with the creation of the Innovative Science and Technology Directorate for President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (“Star Wars”), now called the Missile Defense Agency. He has held top-secret and other national security clearances with the Defense Intelligence Agency and has advised the Pentagon and NASA on critical technology issues.

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