Three big glasses of red wine give Sdema Group a rosy glow
The name comes from some verse in the Bible - haven't found it yet.

But the concept of Sdema Group is worthy of the time and attention of security dreamers everywhere, namely, solving the problem. Solving the whole problem. Sdema evangelist Batsheva Iluz (a nice Baltimore girl) energetically told Eleanor, Nicola and me the story and vision of Sdema, and its founder Dror Mor. By creating a comprehensive, coherent and efficient environment for security, an organization can be more secure, less encumbered, and more profitable than those organizations that buy security solutions one product at a time. Products are pieces of the puzzle. But its the whole (or nearly whole) puzzle that makes the solution and improves the business.

Sdema Group - [think of them as a kind of comprehensive or holistic or global security architects] - sounds like my kind of security dreamers.

post by: Steve Hunt at SecurityDreamer, September 03, 2007

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A one-stop security shop in Israel (more along the lines of kiosk-on-Diezengoff than SuperSol, but useful anyway)

Mr. David Hava, the CEO of MIW, Ltd. (Managing Investments Worldwide) explained how his business development firm came to invite Eleanor and me to Israel. Over coffee (caf? afouk, naturally) he described MIW as the coordinator and manager for a few technology consortia. The I-Safe group is one, focused as you might imagine on security, and consisting of just over a dozen companies. The slogan for the I-Safe group is “One Stop For All Your Security Solutions.” (That reminds me, for a few years when I was much younger I worked as a locksmith at Chicago’s Security Shop whose slogan was the same.) At first glance through the list of companies I saw only IT and network security firms. If this is one stop for all my security, where is physical security? Where is homeland security? A closer inspection turned up Sdema Group, a consulting firm offering physical security risk assessments, information security best practices consulting, and employee background checks.

post by: Steve Hunt at SecurityDreamer, September 01, 2007

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Thinking about Security
Shifting the Homeland Security Paradigm // by Dror Mor

The homeland security field continues to grow as the global terrorist network threatens governments, national infrastructure and, increasingly, private interests. Many argue that despite this growth, homeland security solutions have not come far enough in their ability effectively to meet the challenges that terrorism poses.

Homeland security is based on three pillars: technology, the human factor, and procedures, and an effective balance that must be struck among them. In today's market, technology is given significant precedence over the human factor. Examples abound of hundreds of millions of dollars being spent on impressive and expensive technology that will, at most, document the death and destruction of a future attack, but which would do nothing to prevent it. One has to look only to mass transit systems around the world for the most striking cases.

Of course, the benefits and potential benefits of technological tools are unlimited, but only when integrated effectively with the other two pillars. While the security marketplace must continue to promote technological advancement and use technological solutions at its disposal, it must, at the same time, acknowledge that technology is not a stand-alone solution. If the market continues to place such prominence on technology without elevating the human factor, the dissonance that exists today will continue to grow and thwart the potential for more effective solutions to the threats that the world faces today. The answer is to create a more effective synergy between the components of homeland security.

Dedicating additional resources to the human factor could make the difference between effective protection and vulnerability in many cases.

One of the reasons that the human factor is typically relegated the back seat may be a lack of understanding regarding the term and what it actually entails. A general mistake that many people make is to think about the human factor in operational terms only. In fact, it comprises four circles: intelligence, planning, operations, and audit.

• Intelligence is the first level or circle of protection against attacks. Many attacks are prevented by good intelligence. These are attacks that you will never hear about. Had they not been stopped, however, they would join the grim list of the attacks in New York, Madrid, Bali, and London.

• Planning is the bridge between intelligence and operations. Planning concepts are based on relevant threats, and planners use an advanced process called risk management to determine threats to be protected against. The formula:
Level of threat x chances of the threat being carried out = level of risk
From the level of risk determined, the planner builds a solution.

• Operations consist of the implementation of the security plan (the solution) and are carried out by personnel from commanders to junior agents.

• Audit phase. The human factor must consistently check and recheck itself. The business of security is different from many other fields as success is measured by an absence of something, (attacks, loss of life, destruction) and thus difficult to measure. If an aircraft lands safely, a public event transpires without interruption, or a leader of a state gets home at night and goes to bed safe and sound, it does not necessarily mean that security professionals did their jobs well. The question that the human factor must always ask is: Did all of the procedures that I carried out provide concrete answers to the shifting threats?

Today, unfortunately, owing to a lack of financial resources, non-quality security employees are being used more and more. The results are troubling:
• Lack of effectiveness / operational failures
• Wasted manpower -- more human resources are being used than needed
• Wasted technology -- technology has to be very simple to use or this pool of lower quality employees would not be ableto handle it
• Poor professional image: In most countries, security guards are uneducated and undergo only brief training

In order to improve the level of operations and thus provide a strong basis for shifting some of the emphasis from technology to the human factor, several steps must be taken.

1. Employ the right people: Choose high-level professionals. Yes, this costs more up front, but in the long run it is more effective, operationally and financially. If you invest in effective personnel, your employees will have the ability not just to follow simple directions, but also to take into account surrounding factors.

2. Training, training, and more training! When making cuts, there is a tendency to cut training first. This is a mistake. Training is critical. It increases the abilities of personnel on the professional level and has the added value of improving the image of the profession. Training must include planning. This connects, rather than isolate, personnel to the bigger picture and raises motivation. A security guard who understands why he is doing what he is doing, rather than carrying out his small part in the security plan as if he were merely an assembly line worker, will ultimately perform at a consistently higher level and make a much more successful contribution.

3. Improve the image of the security agent: Traditionally, customer service and relations were not part of the security agent's job description. Today, as the industry continues to grow and security agents are commonplace in office buildings, banks, hotels, and facilities around the world, customer relations must become part and parcel of the agent's capabilities. In addition, high-level managers should serve as examples, generate respect and dress and speak the image that the profession wants to portray.

Security agents and all operational players should know their exact roles, as written in the security plan. Integration again will raise motivation and performance. It must be clear to everyone – this is the last circle. The federal agent standing at the boarding gate to a commercial aircraft -- his mind and his body -- are in many cases the last circle of protection.

Homeland security is based on defense. It is about waiting for an attack to happen. It is too easy to get into a routine and become complacent. It is very difficult to wake up every morning and convince security agents that today might be the day. Breaking routine is the most difficult task when dealing with the human factor.

The real key to improving the effectiveness of homeland security solutions is shifting the existing paradigm to the point where the three pillars of homeland security meet.

The place where technology, the human factor, and procedures overlap is where we all want to be. None of these circles can stand-alone. They all depend on each other, and they all must be in place everywhere at all times.

The interface between them marks our maximum capability, and the synergy among them will improve our ability to confront all threats at all times when all other circles of counterterrorism fail.

Dror Mor is founder and CEO of Sdema Group