Showing posts with label Security Awareness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Security Awareness. Show all posts

Saturday, December 3, 2016

Security Awareness. Sigh.

In the annals of military history, there are countless examples of commanders finding unique and interesting ways to get security awareness training to their people. I imagine Hannibal having posters that made coy references to the "element of surprise" and OPSEC. You can guarantee Ceasar had posters ironically about insider threats. In today's modern military, commanders have been less creative and still don't get why marketers declare "Location, location, location!"

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

What's The Nature of Your Emergency?


These are words often spoken by dispatchers and those working in emergency response centers throughout the world. They are the first words spoken and often lead to some of the most confusing and panic-driven conversations. People who have something to report, whether it be suspicious or an actual emergency, report as if the person on the other line is there with them. The descriptions of the situation are often muddled, suspect descriptions are either ignored or extremely vague, and other information is untold or dragged out by the dispatcher from the caller. So how do we fix this?

The problem is not the caller but how we cultivate information from them. We assume, wrongly, they understand what it is we need or that any information is good information. Both assumptions are dead wrong. Don't fall into this trap. People don't know what emergency dispatch or law enforcement truly need. They assume you will ask all of the relevant questions from the "fog of war". Luckily, we do - sometimes. So how do we fix it? We start by giving them the format that will deliver the best results for us and get the information from them as quickly as possible so we can notify the appropriate personnel.

A format that I'm very familiar with and I used extensively in the military was called S.A.L.U.T.E.
  1. Size:  How many people do you see? How big is the object? How many gunshots did you hear?
  2. Activity:  What are they doing? Is he shooting at you? What did he say?
  3. Location:  Where are they? Where did they go? Where are you? Where did the vehicle come from? Where did you see that? Where is the object?
  4. Uniform:  What color were his clothes? What kind of clothes was she wearing? What color was the vehicle? What was the make and model?
  5. Time: When did this happen? When was the last time you heard from him? What time did the letter say the explosion would happen?
  6. Equipment:  What kind of gun did he have? Was the knife serrated? Did you see a rocket launcher? Did you see them carrying anything else?
This is all great information that when given to dispatchers aids in faster information flow which means faster mitigation/response times. I recommend agencies, if they haven't already, have their organizations begin indoctrinating their communities on the specific formatting you need. Trust me, as a former dispatcher and emergency operations center controller, I can tell you nothing is better than getting the right information to the right people as soon as possible.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Ten of the Craziest Security Awareness Posters (And Yes, I Made a Few Of Them Myself)

Today, on Twitter, I've been linking various security awareness posters. While many of these posters are very creative, they do send very ominous messages regarding the consequences of security violations. Because they tend to be overly dramatic and are seemingly outdated at times, they provide for a good chuckle every now and then.  I've even included some I made when I was a young security manager in the Air Force for good measure.  Enjoy.


About Us