Fri, 24 Jan 2025
Basic Guide to Security Risk Management
Would you like to earn more in the security field?
One way to achieve that is by climbing the ladder into the world of Security Risk Management—an area we see as having significant growth potential in Iraq over the coming years. As companies adopt a more professional approach to risk mitigation and analysis, this field is becoming increasingly important in addressing security challenges.
Today, we’ve put together a brief guide on the functions, terminology, and processes of Security Risk Management. Designed for those new to the subject, our goal is to spark interest, inspire learning, and encourage further exploration of this exciting field.
Al Zaeem has a team in Basra specialising in risk assessment and consultancy.
We see this field as one with a bright future in Iraq, and we’d like to provide a basic overview for beginners, and anyone interested in some of the core principles and key terms for this subject.
We hope this basic guide inspires those working in other areas of security to consider further study. It’s a fantastic way to advance your career and aim for a higher salary. Happy reading!
Risk Assessments
Often referred to as an SRA, the key purpose being to analyse data, and / or the threat environment, the potential risks and prioritise where the focus of mitigation should be.
Risk are classified for both the likelihood of occurrence and the impact on the organisation or individual, for example, the risk of shark attack could be seen as low, but clearly, the impact of one is high! Conversely, the risk of getting wet when it rains is high, the impact low! You get the idea!
If something is both likely and high impact it will carry a high-risk factor, this is where mitigation measures come in.
Mitigation measures / Risk Mitigation
Another key part of Security Risk Management principles. An umbrella is a mitigation against getting wet, not entering the sea mitigates against shark attacks, though if your client is an open water swimmer you need a balanced approach.
This balance of mitigation measures, their impact on an organisations ability to function and the ability to keep them safe is always a delicate act to balance, with some risk areas easier to mitigate and some options having lower / higher impact on clients.
A typical example of this in the security world would be when providing security for NGO’s in high risk zones, when the risk is high enough, a security manager may simply decide to hibernate, to lock down, this impacts an organisations ability to function, in some cases this will be absolutely the correct choice, it can save lives, in others, there may be other ways to function whilst mitigating the threat, enhanced security, counter-surveillance or intelligence for example. Each threat requires a unique solution.
Cycle of Risk Management
At Al Zaeem, we see risk management as essential for navigating uncertainty and ensuring successful protection of our clients, at the core of risk management lies a structured cycle that includes identification, analysis, mitigation planning, implementation, and monitoring, as a basic introduction we elaborate a little more on each of these steps:
Identification – The first step is spotting and identifying the risks, without this part you have nothing to work with! From Cyber attacks to full blown War, from having paint thrown on you by climate protestors to being bombed, the risks in Security are many, the attack vectors are many! Identify them!
Analysis – This stage is where you can make objective analysis and start to work with risk scores, the likelihood / impact – Weigh up the situation, understand the risks and you being to see where your focus should be.
Mitigation Planning – This is probably the part considered the most “fun” or at least the most interesting, putting together plans and measures to mitigate the threats, locking your door is a basic mitigation, bomb proof offices a major one! Each threat has different approaches, each environment offers new challenges.
Implementation – Roll out your measures, brief staff, rehearse drills, teach, test, improve! Ensure your measures are effective!
Monitoring – Risks change, threats change modus operandi change, technology adapts, if you’re not keeping on top of the threat environment, you’ll come un-stuck, only through monitoring and testing will you ensure your mitigation measures are functioning correctly.
Risk Appetite
This term regards the amount of risk a person or company is willing to accept in the course of carrying out their function or role.
For example, a war correspondent has quite a high-risk appetite, to cover developments in a war zone is a high-risk business, those who report in this way understand this and choose to put themselves in harms way to achieve their mission. Of course, they have mitigation measures in place too, but their appetite for the risk will certainly be higher than most working in the same environment.
Conversely, an business owner working in the same war torn region may feel living under the threat or war is not worth the money, not worth the risk of injury, or death, their appetite for the risk is lower.
Mission objectives always need to be balanced with the risk, it’s a game of trade-offs.
Transference, Acceptance, Avoidance
These terms sound quite technical! But perhaps we can think of this as Pass it on, Live with it or Run.
The terms simply refer to ways of dealing with risks, lets explore a little further.
Transference – Yeah, it’s not my problem, shift your risk to a third party! Car insurance, out-sourcing security, letting a professional guard your artwork, these are a way of transferring risk.
Acceptance – Deal with the risk! As above, the example of a war correspondent, while they will mitigate with security / media protection, they accept the high risk, they very well understand the threat of injury or death is high in this role.
Avoidance – In the context of a street fight, most martial artists will tell you, the best tactic is to walk away (if possible) essentially this is a type of avoidance, if you don’t want to be eaten by a shark, you can certainly avoid that by staying on the land, if something is just too risky, not worth the “impact” its simple to avoid, don’t go to a place, don’t do the risky thing! Avoid!
Thanks for reading this basic guide from Al Zaeem, if you want to learn more about security risk management and risk consultancy in Iraq, we are on hand to help you!
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