Independence Day 2025: Service Wisdom...

Who among mortal men are you, good friend? Since never before have I seen you in the fighting where men win glory, yet now you have come striding far out in front of all others in your great heart… —Homer, The Iliad

It was December 21, 2009 boarding a Delta flight with a newly published book in hand on a 10 day Christmas vacation in another country.

“Where Men Win Glory” The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer is a tragic story worth remembering as we contemplate our country the USA and all those brave men and women who have defended our freedom and our way of life.

As we approach our next July 4th weekend, this book caught my eye on the shelf as the thoughts of celebrating our United States of America birthday in 2025 came to mind.

Before you were wise, you as an American can’t truly know or understand it all, until you leave it. Until you travel far away across our globe to other countries and cities to see and feel the differences.

Most recently traveling on a Boeing 787 for 14 hours then another 7 hours to another place near the equator, this first gives you the real context of how enormous our Earth really is.

Secondly, spending weeks time in other countries that are foreign to you, provides you the vivid context on our United States in so many ways.

You learn why America included specific language in its “Constitution” as a new country and you can better understand what influence the United States has had on other parts of the world since it’s 1st birthday.

In early June 2002, Pat Tillman and his brother Kevin appeared at the Military Processing Station in downtown Phoenix, AZ. Later in the day, they signed away their freedom and recited the oath of enlistment, and received their orders to appear at Fort Benning Georgia on July, 8 2002.

Two years later Pat Tillman died on a desolate hillside in southeastern Afghanistan after leaving behind a $3.6 million NFL contract to enlist in the United States Army.

How will you work in your own years ahead in America or OCONUS, to defend our freedoms and to help defeat evil across our small towns, our cities and vast metropolitan areas?

This 4th of July Independence Day weekend, think about how you will contribute to our great nation.

Maybe it begins by leaving it for a week or two, just to reveal what you will miss.

What you will feel. What you will better understand about the “How and “Why” we were founded as the United States of America.

"We as a nation have so much to learn from others across the world, and yet if you never travel outside your state or even your own country, how will you ever say you truly understand."

When you feel the same calling as Pat Tillman and his brother did about serving your country, figure out how you too will contribute.

How might you make a difference in fighting evil and making our country even better?

Get out there! How will you serve…

Travel Risk: Adaptive Survival Instruction...

Travel risk to corporate executives is on the rise. Even if you are not an executive who can afford the services of personal body guards and armored cars, there are some prudent ways to mitigate the risk of traveling to the global hot spots.

The Mission

Travel safety is becoming more of a main stream issue with savvy Operational Risk Managment (ORM) leaders. The fact is, most of these so called travel safety courses are being taught from only one side of the equation.

"In a world of global commerce, CSOs are often tasked with building their company's corporate travel safety programs. The job calls for a proactive approach to educate employees about precautions they can take to stay safe, whether they're the CEOs of multibillion-dollar conglomerates who fly on company jets that land on secured tarmacs or rank-and-file staff riding in commercial airline coach."

The Take-Away

Business has to be done in some of the most dangerous places on the planet, even when it comes to being exposed to kidnapping, terrorism and corrupt governments. Our advice is to make sure your instructor transfers skills to people on "how" to detect, deter and defend against the attackers. Not just the "What to do".

The how is not easy to teach unless you have been there and experienced it. One of the reasons why most CEO's are "Age Experienced" is that it takes time to acquire enough valid leadership lessons.

It does not happen in a week or a month or even a few years. Learning the skills to survive in strange cities, cultures and countries requires instruction by age experienced and "Quiet Professionals". Much of this instruction is about training people to be "Adaptive."

Personnel threat management is a prudent risk mitigation solution. This combination is one key strategy to reduce the operational risks associated with key personnel in your organization.

Individuals whose occupations place them at risk may include people with access to valuable proprietary information or holders of high level security clearances, the wealthy and those responsible for their safety.

Comprehensive "Adaptive Survival Instruction" for international business executives, is a primary mission for OPS Risk leadership, because it saves lives.

SOC: Statement of Truth...

Global transnational organizations who provide 24x7 Business Resilience Intelligence and executive security protective details are on the rise. Corporate personnel who must travel to high risk regions of the globe, realize the requirement for a minimal, yet comprehensive security envelope.

Back at the Business Resilience or "Security Operations Center" (SOC), you will find a team of subject matter experts working in concert, to continuously enhance the Operational Risk Management matrix. One set of analysts are tasked with the media review and real-time intelligence collection from Open Sources. One example could be CNN or even more regional sources such as Alhurra:

Alhurra (Arabic for “The Free One”) is a commercial-free Arabic language satellite television network for the Middle East devoted primarily to news and information. In addition to reporting on regional and international events, the channel broadcasts discussion programs, current affairs magazines and features on a variety of subjects including health and personal fitness, entertainment, sports, fashion, and science and technology. The channel is dedicated to presenting accurate, balanced and comprehensive news. Alhurra endeavors to broaden its viewers' perspectives, enabling them to make more informed decisions.

Another set of analysts are sifting through online intelligence portals such as Opensource.gov or Data.gov . However, when you have a specific executive who is traveling to a specific country, there are more detailed plans and substantial advance work that takes place.

These facets of corporate enterprise risk and operational risk management (ORM) are vital to protect human assets and the ongoing continuity of business operations. Situational awareness enhancement is a 24/7 x 365 day process.

Whether your business takes you to Pakistan, Paris, Toronto or London the risk of bombing, or criminal elements are a real potential threat:

LONDON — An 18-year-old Iraqi asylum seeker was sentenced on Friday to life in prison in Britain after he was convicted of attempted murder in the botched bombing last September of a rush-hour train on the London Underground, which injured 30 people.

Ahmed Hassan was convicted last week after he left the bomb that partially exploded one stop after he had disembarked. The explosion triggered a stampede that injured tens of passengers.

Executive Protection details have been utilizing the compendium of wisdom and research that is found in Gavin De Becker's publication, "Just 2 Seconds" and for good reason:

"Think of every assassination you've ever heard about. For most people, a few of these major ones come to mind: Caesar, Abraham Lincoln, John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Anwar Sadat, John Lennon, Israel’s Prime Minister Rabin, Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto.

From start to finish, all of these attacks — combined — took place in less than one minute. And the hundreds of attacks studied for this book, all of them combined, took place in less than a half-hour. Those thirty minutes, surely the most influential in world history, offer important insights that can help today’s protectors defeat tomorrow’s attackers."

Operational Risk is far more pervasive than just the detection of fraud, mitigating the loss events from internal information theft or the "All Threats, All Hazards" approach to the "Continuity of Business Operations."  It's been said here before and it's worth repeating again this statement of truth:

"Attackers use tools to exploit a vulnerability to create an action on a target that produces an unauthorized result to obtain their objective."

Whether you utilize this statement within the context of your digital domains, physical domains or the vast set of processes within the enterprise, it does not matter.

What does matter, is that those individuals responsible for the survivability and the defensible standard of care of the organization,  "Never Forget"...

Situational Awareness: Battlefield to Board Room...

Creating a "Common Operational Picture" for your organization is an elusive yet attainable goal for your senior management and the Board of Directors. How at a moments notice does the organization provide leadership with the answers to Operational Risk questions such as:

1. How many employees from our company are currently traveling outside your home country?
2. What are their modes of transportation and where do they plan to stay each night?
3. What employees from our "Red Zone" list have left the company in this past week?
4. How many of these employees left suddenly without any warning?
5. What employees were asked to resign or were fired from their position?
6. What controls have failed in the process for closing deals within our standard time period?
7. How much has our sales pipeline increased or decreased over the past quarter?
8. What is the total number of network access points (Points of Presence) our company currently believes are available for employees to connect to the Internet?
9. How many known incidents occurred over the past week related to malicious software attacks or Denial of Service attempts on our network?
10. How many employees started work with the company who have been added to the "Red Zone?"
11. What are the names of the local liaison officials for our water, power, telecom and data carrier suppliers? Who is their deputy?
12. How often has the company exercised a plan for major business crisis or disruption in the past year?
13. What is the current forecast for severe weather in the corporate headquarters region in the next week?

These questions and more should be able to be answered at a moments notice. Any senior manager or member of the Board of Directors should have an information dashboard they can view with these situational awareness questions at their finger tips.

If you don't have the latest Operational Risk Quotient in your enterprise it may be a clear indicator that the people, process, systems or external events are a severe threat.The corporate landscape or battlefield if you will requires that the commanders in the field have the intelligence they require to make split second decisions.

These Directors, Managers, Supervisors that drive the business forward each day need leadership to give them split second answers, especially in the midst of a crisis. There is not time for a Q & A session or for an extended report to give leadership the view they need to steer the enterprise out of harms way.

Operational Risk Managers rely on a combination of real-time feeds from internal sources and outside the organization to provide this level of situational awareness. CCTV feeds, access controls, intrusion detection, and many more are part of the Corporate Intelligence Unit's own Fusion Center.

Why is this a prudent business practice to assist you in "Achieving a Defensible Standard of Care" for your employees? Because without it you are flying blind and trying to operate without the awareness and predictive ability to mitigate risks as they unfold before you.

Whether it is on the battlefield or your own organization does not matter. Your people need to understand their role in providing this vital aspect of the risk management solution. Without hourly by the minute or second intelligence about your people, processes, systems and external events you are destined for a future either known or unknown. You make the choice.

True North: A Decision to Trust...

When you awakened this morning did you immediately know your "True North"?  Are you heading in the direction of your passion in life?  How do you know when you are off course and need to correct your path before it is too late?

This metaphor for knowing and feeling whether you are on the right path for your passion, begins with a visual sign.  A star in the distance to keep you focused and on track.  A reminder.  You know the one I am talking about.  Maybe it's the magnet on your refrigerator.  Is it a person?  Is it a place?  Or just a 3M Post-It note, placed strategically at your desk, to keep you centered.

Your particular "True North" is what keeps you going every day.  At certain intervals however, course corrections are always necessary, yet you don't want to deviate too long away from your desired outcome.

Any Operational Risk "Professional" understands the true mission because somewhere along the path, they have encountered difficulties and significant hardships.  And they have adapted.  They have pivoted.  They have endured the negative emotions and counter productive environment, to survive another day.

Now, think about the most difficult time in your life and how you were able to navigate back to "True North".  How did you do it?  How were you able to stay on course?  This is how.  You made a series of "Trust Decisions".

You made a decision to trust someone, something or some direction to navigate towards your "True North".  Who is it?  What is it?  Where is it?  Perhaps more importantly, Why is it?

Whether you are heading in the right direction requires a perseverance and a belief.  It means that you will have many emotions as you travel forward in the hours, weeks, years and decades ahead.  You can expect that to be the case, no matter what happens.

As you navigate your path towards your "True North" you must reflect along the journey.  What have you learned?  Why is this important?  It is because of these lessons and the knowledge that you have learned, that will now make a difference and influence your next "Trust Decision".

• A Decision to Trust incorporates data that comes from a network of sensors.  These points of data collection are important to the future of your survival.  They are where you must continue to improve, correct and test in order to be assured that they are operating effectively and as planned.
• A Decision to Trust is a series of calculations, that involves the data you are collecting from sensors.  The calculations and formula is different for each node or mechanism, that you are utilizing to achieve the outcomes you seek.
• A Decision to Trust becomes automated, once you have the highest assurances that you can rely on your sensors and believe in the calculations.

Once you have determined your course and are relying on your sensors to be accurate, discipline is the final quest.  What discipline do you follow?  This is where you may now have the greatest risk of failure.  The risk you deviate from your discipline.  You forget your "True North".

Your direction and your ability to reach your destination, will be ultimately determined by your discipline...

God speed!

Executive Security: Personal Protection Specialist...

Operational Risk Management (ORM) extends beyond the perimeter with some of your most valuable assets.  The Fortune 500 Chief Executive Officer and their staff team of subject matter experts are continually at risk.  Even if you are the co-founder of a new start-up with that new "Killer App" ready for testing with SOCOM, you may now require several full-time security risk professionals at your side.

In the corporate Protective Security environment, the "Advance Work" being executed by your ORM team will ensure your success or contribute to the embarrassment or injury of your client/principal. Professionals in Protective Security Detail's (PSD) realize that your site or lead advance agent can make or break the entire operational risk strategy, for your proactive and preventive security measures.

Thinking like the DEVGRU attacker and possessing a "Red Cell" mentality, is a valid approach for several aspects of the advance work necessary to ensure an effective "protective envelope". What ends up being the greatest threat to your operation, may be technology itself. Too much reliance on pervasive high tech tools such as "Google Maps" or even the standard-issue Garmin GPS, will create a vulnerability just at the point in time when your principal says, "Let's change the itinerary or the location of the next meeting".  A "15 Minute Map" comprised from a good old fashioned road atlas, can be the low tech tool that saves lives and potential chaos.

21st Century Executive Security and modern day Personal Protection Specialist's (PPS), who understand the value of the "Advance" and apply it effectively, will continue to keep their principal's safe and secure and with a high degree of professional client service. Corporations operating in countries where executives are required to visit critical infrastructure plants, manufacturing facilities or meet with government officials, have been incorporating more protective intelligence and advance work for good reason. The global business environment is increasingly more volatile and subject to rapidly changing political risks and subjective "Rule of Law" in many emerging democracies.

Whether it is weapons in close range or a distance, explosive IED's or kidnapping plots, today's global and mobile executive is ever more at risk.  Effective "Advance Work" is the most important and critical aspect of the security operation.  Site and route surveys, "eyes on" residences, airports and hotels, hospitals, police stations, restaurants and convention centers, are a mandatory component of the advance operations.

Surveillance Detection (SD) remains a vital facet of the advance work, including the ongoing SD as the Protective Security Detail agents run the operation. The Principal is potentially aware of such activity, yet is shielded from any lethal imminent threats as the days agenda unfolds.

What may be more obvious is the PSD's use of "Coopers Colors:":

"By using a well-practiced, concrete, formulaic train of thought, it prevents the hesitation normally experienced when one is under threat of attack or actual attack, and this is the purpose of the code, to prevent unnecessary hesitation, and to apply only that force which is necessary to defend yourself." "The way Jeff Cooper explains it is:"

• White - relaxed and fairly oblivious of your surroundings, you should only be in this condition if you are at home or another secure setting behind locked doors.
• Yellow - the state of not only constant awareness, but the constant recognition of possible threats. In this state, you are observant of your surroundings, allowing you to recognize threats if they present themselves.
• Orange - in this state, you have recognized a potential threat, and are ready to defend yourself against this threat if necessary.
• Red - you are actively defending yourself or others against a threat that has presented itself to you.

It's not just about general awareness, it's about positively identifying potential and actual threats, as you go about your daily life. It is this threat identification and acquisition process that is so valuable, that reduces your response time to those threats, if they present themselves.

Executive Security and the Personal Protection Specialist (PPS) becomes an even more vital asset in the OPS Risk portfolio, where the Board of Director's has authorized significant premiums for an executive's kidnap and ransom (K&R) insurance. Why?

Like many aspects of our society today regarding information privacy, one only wonders how information gets leaked from the confines of the corporate enterprise. Operational Risks involving people in your organization exist everyday.  Insuring against losses and protecting against personnel loss events is imperative. Utilizing the correct strategy, tools and professional human assets to comprise the entire security envelope including the effective use of Protective Security Details, can make all the difference in your organizations resilience factor.

Culture Risk: Charting a Course for Achieving the Mission...

"It's more fun to be a pirate than to join the Navy" - Steve Jobs

Think about the culture your organization has created, from inception to present day.  What is it about the current state, that draws the kind of new people to want to get on board?  Do you have people lining up behind the recruiting table, to join the Navy or to be a Pirate?

Competition for new talent and fresh perspectives, requires the continuous pursuit of new people to join the firm, company or government agency.  It's already a historical fact, on how many applications Apple or Google receives for every job opening.  Yet other companies are struggling to find anyone to fill the ranks of the new project teams they seek.

As these new recruits come through the doors of the organization, are they ready to work within the rules of the pirate ship or learn a more proven, consistent environment of certainty and longevity? Certainly you can sense what kind of ship you are on right now.  Will your company be around in 2 years or 5 years?  How will you sustain the mission and vision you set out to accomplish?

As you embark on your next voyage with an organization, you can bet that what you see early on, is what you will get for months and years to come.  What is it about the cultural environment and the way people behave within the enterprise that is so appealing to you?  Is it the product, the service or the purpose that gets you out of bed each day, to do the job and accomplish your tasks for the greater benefit of the team?

Enthusiasm is contagious and people who are "Waving the Flag" for their group, team or organization has a tendency to get others attention and it becomes viral.  They start to wonder why there is so much energy and so many people trying to join up and participate.  The "Crowd Effect" is a known marketing strategy that has worked in advertising for decades.

And then there is another strategy that might be counter intuitive and for good reason.  The opposite might be found in slogans such as "Only a Few Good Men" or an "elite community of professionals". Many may want to join, but only the best and the most resilient will achieve the goal of becoming part of the team.

What is it, that is the same about these two kinds of organizations?  Analyze the elements of what makes them both similar and how they are able to persist over time and you will begin to see, what really matters in effectiveness of organizational design and cultural development.  You will begin to understand the essential factors to enhance in order to achieve a long lasting and perpetual enterprise. Here are a few words that would describe and define both environments:

• Trust
• Innovation
• Adaptive
• Continuous Learning
• Empathy
• Belief

The factors you search for with your next organization, company or project team might have some or all of these attributes.  It is up to you to determine what is in your best interest long term, whether to be a pirate or join the Navy.  Once you have made the decision, it will forever define you and shape the way you think, act and behave for much of the rest of your life.

As an Operational Risk Management (ORM) professional, first it is your job to figure out what kind of ship you are on.  Second, it is your job to make sure that the Captain achieves their destination, today, tomorrow or next week.  Finally, you must decide if the ship you are on and the Captain both, will help you fulfill your life long goals and aspirations.

Now, think about your current cultural environment.  What is your organizational course?  Who is commanding the ship?  Are you ready for the next mission with your team?  Why?

Now you are well on your way to having a more clear picture of your destiny and contributing to achieving success of your next mission...

ID Analytics: Risk of the Unknown...

Operational Risk Management (ORM) has been at the top of the news in the past few weeks.  Digital media and the metadata of "Big Data" is the topic of choice.  It is a revealing look behind the curtain of what is possible these days, with the tools and capabilities that exist for exploitation and analysis.  Is too much privacy an operational risk to your personal and professional well being?  What "Trust Decisions" did you make to arrive on this page in the universe of the Internet?

In the spirit of full disclosure, if you are reading this now, we tracked how you found this blog and perhaps what search terms you used to be referred here.  Some of you, revealed their company identity. So why do we do this?  The main reason is that we want to make sure that we understand what is on your mind these days, when it comes to the global Operational Risk Management (ORM) universe. Here are a few examples in the past day or so that caught our eye:

• management of operational risk - Latvia
• operational risk management - Nigeria, Illinois, South Dakota, The Vanguard Group
• common board of directors mistakes - Turkey
• lessons learning from fail in operational risk - Malaysia
• predictive intelligence - North America
• rogue trader operational risk - United Kingdom
• fund industry operation management discussion topic - Luxembourg
• operational risk management game - Unknown
• reputation risk management process - Unknown
• operational risks in bank call center - Qatar
• coso definition of operational risk - Unknown
• black swan incident that occurs once in a lifetime - Unknown
• ubs operational risk case analysis - Unknown
• business resiliency definition - JP Morgan Chase
• "operational risk" outliers - France
• a risk effect on a daily operation - DeVry
• examples of smart objectives risk - United Kingdom
• black swan incident\ - South Carolina
• black swan incident - Computer Sciences Corporation
• what is a black swan incident - South Carolina
• duty of care board of directors - United Kingdom

Collection of data is one thing.  Relevance and sense-making is another.  Can you imagine some of the search terms that are tracked just by Google or Bing?

What about the companies that know us the best?  Those marketing and personal data sites that keep track of where you live, how much you spend on your credit cards and where, or even the name of your pets.  How often do you give them your phone number or e-mail address at the point-of-sale (POS) to get a discount at the local retailer, gas station or pharmacy?  Believe us when we say that there are hundreds of organizations that know more about you in the private sector than some government across the world.

The trail of "digital finger prints" you leave behind everyday are vast.  A snap shot of your face at the local ATM or a snap shot of your desktop when you login to the online banking web site.  In either case, these examples are just a few of the ways that your habits, locations, preferences and lifestyle are profiled each and every day.  Where did all of this begin?  Fraud Management.  Not Homeland Security.

As a citizen traveling across the country or a consumer, you willingly give up these digital bread crumbs of your journey through life.  Your goal now, is to make sure that you are not mistaken for someone else.  After all, you or your organization have developed a profile and a reputation that is being recorded and therefore, it could be a prudent strategy to make sure that you are not mixed up with another person or organization with the same name or brand identity.

How can you do this?  Operational Risk Management (ORM) is about monitoring yourself and your organization to make sure you understand your competition (good or bad) for the same personal or business identity space.  Do you have Biometric and DNA samples of all of your key executives?  If you don't, then the question is why not?  You may have considered this in light of some of the places that your executives are traveling.  Cities and countries across the globe with the risk of kidnapping, improvised explosive devices (IED) and other risks to their lives.

As we look into the crystal ball of our digital futures, we see the scenes from movies past that have already captured our own human imagination.  A world where everyone is known and you may even choose to "opt-in" to be tracked.  After all, you are unique.  You make your own choices in life.  The risks that you face may very well be greater, for those who choose a life to remain private, anonymous and even unknown.

operational risk

Trust Decisions: The Risk of a Digital Supply Chain...

Are you a business that is operating internationally?  What components of Operational Risk Management (ORM) currently intersect with your international business operations?  The safety and security of your employees who travel into countries with unstable political elements are no doubt of immediate concern.  There may even be a heightened sensitivity with whom your international business executives are meeting with and the tremendous U.S. rule-base associated with OFAC, as one example.

Fortune 500 organizations are all too familiar with these concerns, as major players in international business. The Chief Security Officers (CSO) and other key executives charged with the safety, security and integrity of employees, are focused on those who are traveling and meeting across the globe.  This is considered ORM 101.  This facet of ORM is quite mature and familiar to the Board of Directors who are charged with the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) of the company.

What is growing more pervasive and continues to plague organizations doing business internationally is the risk of a Digital Supply Chain.  Trusted information and the confidentiality, integrity and assurance of data.  The "Genie" is out of the bottle and even the most mature and risk adverse global organizations, are continuously barraged by sudden incidents that interface with privacy and security of information.

Here is a recent example:

After a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has approved final orders that settle charges against 14 companies for falsely claiming to participate in the international privacy framework known as the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor. Three of the companies were also charged with similar violations related to the U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor.

The FTC previously announced the settlements in January, February and May of 2014 with the following companies: 

• American Apparel
• Apperian, Inc.
• Atlanta Falcons Football Club, LLC
• Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP
• BitTorrent, Inc.
• Charles River Laboratories International, Inc.
• DataMotion, Inc.
• DDC Laboratories, Inc.
• Fantage, Inc.
• Level 3 Communications, LLC
• PDB Sports, Ltd., d/b/a Denver Broncos Football Club
• Reynolds Consumer Products Inc.
• Receivable Management Services Corporation
• Tennessee Football, Inc

Under the settlements, the companies are prohibited from misrepresenting the extent to which they participate in any privacy or data security program sponsored by the government or any other self-regulatory or standard-setting organization.
Consumers who want to know whether a U.S. company is a participant in the U.S-EU or U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor program may visit http://export.gov/safeharbor to see if the company holds a current self-certification.

Under the settlements, the companies are prohibited from misrepresenting the extent to which they participate in any privacy or data security program sponsored by the government or any other self-regulatory or standard-setting organization.

So what is the real underlying issue here?  It is about "Trust Decisions".

These organizations were representing themselves as compliant with a U.S.-EU framework designed and established to protect their constituents, under the jurisdiction of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).  The decisions to trust these organizations by an individual or business, regarding the perception that they are in compliance with a framework for privacy and security, is what is true.

How often have you ever made a "Trust Decision," based upon your knowledge that a business is displaying an official seal, mark or a sign that your information is safe and secure?  There are dozens of high profile companies operating across the globe that are in the business of selling "Trust".  Symantec, TRUSTe and GeoTrust to name a few.  The reason that a business buys one of these trusted seals or marks is because it wants to increase it's perception of trust, to the consumer or business that it is engaged with to transact business.

The business wants to display that they are compliant with the particular laws or rules associated with their industry or country.  It wants to create a sense of business assurance or peace of mind for the buyer of their products or services.  When you use one of these seals to assist in making an affirmative "Trust Decision" based upon the display of one of these badges, marks, signs or even special symbols or colors; the consumer still assumes risk of the unknown risks.  So what?

So how many consumers on a daily basis do you think visit this web site to get their free annual credit report? Green Padlock https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action

This is the official web site advocated by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for consumers to get a free annual credit report in compliance with Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).  When you visit this site, you see that the URL displays a green padlock and the https: designating that the site is using secure protocols to transmit your Personal Identifiable Information (PII).  Or is it?

When you test the Annual Credit Report web site with a SSL security test service, run online by Qualys SSL Labs, https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/ this is their rating, on the security of Annual Credit Report.com as of 6/28/14.

Overall Rating

F

0

20

40

60

80

100

Certificate

100

Protocol Support

0

Key Exchange

80

Cipher Strength

90

Documentation: SSL/TLS Deployment Best Practices, SSL Server Rating Guide, and OpenSSL Cookbook.

This server supports SSL 2, which is obsolete and insecure. Grade set to F.

Experimental: This server is vulnerable to the OpenSSL CCS vulnerability (CVE-2014-0224), but probably not exploitable.

The server supports only older protocols, but not the current best TLS 1.2. Grade capped to B.

The server does not support Forward Secrecy with the reference browsers.  MORE INFO »

This server is not vulnerable to the Heartbleed attack.

Q: What information do I need to provide to get my free report? 

A: You need to provide your name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth. If you have moved in the last two years, you may have to provide your previous address. To maintain the security of your file, each nationwide credit reporting company may ask you for some information that only you would know, like the amount of your monthly mortgage payment. Each company may ask you for different information because the information each has in your file may come from different sources.

On a daily basis, humans are subjected to signs, marks, badges and other indicators that help them make more informed affirmative "Trust Decisions".  Whether it is the "Green Light" at the local intersection or the "Green Padlock" on the web site where we are being asked to give up our Personal Identifiable Information (PII).  The regulatory and private entities that are tasked to ensure that the signs, marks, badges and even colors are in compliance, must also look to their own level of trust of their Digital Supply Chain.

This is just one glaring example of why "Trust Decisions" are so vital to online global e-commerce.  It is also a wake-up call for any organization that is advocating trust by using a digital third party that the consumer relies on every day.  However, the FTC and other government agencies rely on private sector companies to assist them in outsourced services such as hosting Annual Credit Report. com.  The site is hosted by:

IP Location

- Massachusetts - Cambridge - Akamai Technologies Inc.

How confident are you, that your organizations digital supply chain is ensuring safe and secure "Trust Decisions" for your customers?

operational risk

Vigilance: Risk After Bin Laden...

Usama Bin Laden is no longer a risk to the operations of many high value targets across the globe. Yet, now that he is dead, the distributed network of followers may soon carry out his blueprints for destruction. Large U.S. conglomerates doing business overseas are on high alert announced from their 24 x 7 Crisis Operations and Security Risk Management centers.

By JANET ADAMY AND COREY BOLES

The raid on Osama bin Laden's compound yielded a trove of intelligence the size of a small college library, a top White House official said Sunday.

In a series of coordinated news-show appearances National Security Adviser Tom Donilon said information seized during last week's killing of the Al Qaeda leader represents the largest cache ever obtained from a terrorist. He said it indicates that in addition to being the group's symbolic leader, bin Laden was involved in strategic operations, including Al Qaeda's propaganda effort.

Al Qaeda's network is decentralized and therefore more resilient to defeat. It will not simply disappear by having one of it's founding leaders gone forever. Corporate institutions who have their American citizens in distant high risk countries such as Algeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Iraq, Mexico, Venezuela, Nigeria, Kenya, Sudan are on heightened alert. Kidnapping is now even more of a risk in these countries especially in rural areas.

At the speed of business in 2011, the infrastructure companies have found new opportunities to build out energy and telecommunications projects using the latest "Green" and "Wireless" technologies. The threat and risk to those who represent the enemy in the eyes of Al Qaeda include the U.K. and the growth of "Homegrown Violent Extremists" (HVE) in America:

To date, cells detected in the United States have lacked the level of sophistication, experience, and access to resources of terrorist cells overseas. Their efforts, when disrupted, largely have been in the nascent phase, and authorities often were able to take advantage of poor operational tradecraft. However, the growing use of the Internet to identify and connect with networks throughout the world offers opportunities to build relationships and gain expertise that previously were available only in overseas training camps. It is likely that such independent groups will use information on destructive tactics available on the Internet to boost their own capabilities.

Operational Risk Management professionals have watched the unfolding information in Abbottabod and realized one thing. Our vigilance is now more important than it has ever been in the past ten years. The preparation, training, exercises and intelligence collection is increasingly more justified and vital. These simple 4 steps in this continuous process shall be even more integrated into the fabric of our corporate and institutional landscapes:

• Deter
• Detect
• Defend
• Document

This "4D" strategy will provide your employees with the kind of mindset necessary to help keep them safe and secure from unknown future adversaries. They may be coming from the outside while on a foreign business trip overseas or within the confines of your own headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. Complacency is our largest and most active threat today. Let the death of Usama Bin Laden and the turmoil unfolding in the Middle East remind us to continue our Operational Risk Management missions.

Remember people like Pat Tillman, Michael P. Murphy, OP Restrepo, Jeremy Wise, Dane Paresi, Scott Roberson, Elizabeth Hanson, Tim Hetherington, and Lara Logan who continues the fight. Their courage and sacrifice will never be forgotten...

operational risk

NSPD-54: The Risk of Privacy...

It has been six days since one of the latest attempts to compromise the "Air Domain" and attack the United States. Aviation, homeland security and transportation, intelligence and law enforcement officials are burning the midnight oil but this is standard operating procedure. Operational Risk Management is in the cross hairs of the core conversation associated with the threat and the likelihood of a similar incident happening again. The Washington Post is now reporting:

President Barack Obama said he would meet the heads of U.S. intelligence agencies on Tuesday to discuss ways of preventing a repeat of the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner on December 25.

Obama said in a statement he expected to receive assessments from several intelligence agencies Thursday evening and would review them during the weekend. He ordered the assessments after criticizing what he called the systemic failure that allowed the accused bomber to board the plane in Amsterdam.

So what does this incident have to do with NSPD-54? What is the nexus between information collection, analysis and action to defend our cyber infrastructure while simultaneously defending the public from other threats to the homeland?

NSPD-54 known as the CNCI (Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative) attempts to unify agencies' fragmented approach to federal cybersecurity by reworking and expanding existing programs and developing new security programs that are better at reducing the risk that networks can be hacked.

The initiative's budget officially has been kept secret, but some cyber analysts estimated it to be $40 billion, spread over several years. According to the Washington Post, Bush's single-largest request for funds in the fiscal 2009 intelligence budget was for CNCI, although specific figures were not released.

Monitoring your information whether Personal or not is a National Priority and the telecom companies are collaborating with the correct US agencies to make sure that privacy is at the forefront of the conversation. The risk of too much privacy will continue to be one of our greatest vulnerabilities and the bad guys know this.

The "Risk of Privacy" and Einstein 2 or 3 will be at the top of the agenda for Howard Schmidt and his new role as Cyber Space Coordinator. The industry groups are pleased that he understands the private sector and the fact that he has served in previous administrations may assist in his ability to build important bridges across deep chasms of relationships.

There are some that would say that the reason why the "Dots are not Connected" sooner, faster or more efficiently is because we are drowning in too much information to analyze. The automation of collection is the easy part. The filtering and pushing relevancy through the digital cheese cloth to get the most vital intelligence assets is a bit harder to accomplish. The human analysis and applying "Gray Matter" to the problem set and understanding the current "State-of-Play" is the ultimate challenge.

Beyond this, the average "John Q" citizen has probably never heard of 28CFR Part 23. The privacy assurance mechanism put into place in the 90's pertaining to the fusion of criminal intelligence. Perhaps this is the single greatest impediment we face to insuring our safety, security and threats from transnational eCrime syndicates, non-state actors and even the most sophisticated Nation States.

It is recognized that certain criminal activities including but not limited to loan sharking, drug trafficking, trafficking in stolen property, gambling, extortion, smuggling, bribery, and corruption of public officials often involve some degree of regular coordination and permanent organization involving a large number of participants over a broad geographical area. The exposure of such ongoing networks of criminal activity can be aided by the pooling of information about such activities. However, because the collection and exchange of intelligence data necessary to support control of serious criminal activity may represent potential threats to the privacy of individuals to whom such data relates, policy guidelines for Federally funded projects are required.

Fortunately for most, the opportunity exists for our government to "Connect The Dot's", prevent the next significant or systemic intelligence failure with the use of the correct technologies. After all, the human factors will continue to compromise our ability to achieve the level of "Predictive Analytics" and the intelligence we seek.

operational risk

People Risk: Protective Security Professionals...

How long does it take for a lethal attack to occur against an at-risk person? Just 2 Seconds is the latest book by Gavin De Becker. Along with his long time colleagues Tom Taylor and Jeff Marquart they document how to use time and space to defeat adversaries.

There are some compelling insights gained from their research:

• In the US, attacks are most likely to be undertaken by lone assailants 87% vs. outside the US where attacks are typically the work of multiple assailants 71%.
• Attacks in the US are about as likely indoors (53%) vs. outdoors (47%)
• However, 64% of attacks happen when the protected person is in or around the car and 77% of these attacks are successful.

Most of these happen within a distance of 25 feet or less using a handgun. Corporate executives and their Protective Security Detail (PSD) already know these statistics and have trained together for these increasing risks. Many have adopted the LADDER model from Gavin de Becker & Associates training academy:

Logistics
Advance
Distance
Deterrence
Evacuation
Response

The study of the motives and the psychology of why these actors pick their targets and choose the time and place has become a science. The methods and tools to assist corporate security in predictive analytics requires a substantial baseline of historical data and real-world experience. Over 20 years ago Gavin and his team developed the MOSAIC Threat Assessment system. It is now in use with dozens of police and government agencies to help authorities and Protective Security Details to be more proactive and preemptive.

Protective Security Specialist's today are certified professionals utilizing intelligence in combination with the attributes of Time, Mind and Space to provide safe and secure travel for their clients. The science and the art have converged to provide a fusion of data, strategy and ad hoc tactics to ensure the mission is completed without incident. As one example, in the state of Virginia, their training is extensive and encompasses a rigid certification process that begins with:

1. Administration and Personal Protection Orientation - 3 hours
   
   
2. Applicable Sections of the Code of Virginia and DCJS Regulations - 1 hour
   
   
3. Assessment of Threat and Protectee Vulnerability - 8 hours
   
   
4. Legal Authority and Civil Law - 8 hours
   
   
5. Protective Detail Operations - 28 hours
   
   
6. Emergency Procedures - 12 hours
   • CPR
   • Emergency First Aid
   • Defensive Preparedness
   
   
7. Performance Evaluation - Five Practical Exercises

Golden Seal Enterprises is just one of the certified training schools providing the core and advanced work for becoming a PSS professional in Virginia:

Course Description: Using proven protective detail models, from the real world experience of GSE’s cadre of EP, PSD and PPS Instructors students will learn to use a pro-active process to prevent threats while maintaining the ability to use reactive skills when a threat is present. This is designed to enable students to operate in self-supporting details but will also encompass interfacing with other details, law enforcement, and other security personnel.

Graduates will be able to provide a secure environment for a client through identifying and controlling potential risks while the client is on foot, in a vehicle, or within a structure in dynamic situations. Graduates will also learn procedures to control the effects of unusual incidents in a professional manner to maintain the client's safety and image and a consistent proper working relationship with the client, client's family, and staff. The course content includes classes and discussions as applied to permissive and semi-permissive environments. Includes VA DCJS 32E certification.

Topics Covered: Protective Operations, Terminology, Case Studies, Advances, Detail Organization, Formations, Route Surveys, Surveillance Detection, Communication & Equipment, Transportation, Vehicle Dynamics, Evasive Maneuvers, Motorcades, Vehicle Search, Technical Security, Details Abroad, Protective Detail Firearms, Assassinations, First Responder Medicine, CPR & AED Certifications and Defensive Tactics.

The profession doesn't stop there. Some risk management firms who have these certified individuals on staff go much further in their training and their vetting of employees. We agree and recommend that you add these questions to your due diligence when obtaining Request for Proposals:

• Review all policy documents the firm has their personnel sign to become a PSS on staff.
• Review the firms hiring process and the prerequisites to join the firm.
• Review the operational standards and operating procedures to ensure 24 x 7 x 365 capabilities.
• Review the 3rd party agreements that encompass any transportation and private aviation suppliers (Netjets)
• Review the firms technology and communications infrastructure including radios, information systems security controls and privacy countermeasures.

The profession has come a long way and people like Gavin de Becker & Associates have established the baseline for others to compete. High net worth individuals, movie stars, public officials and corporate executives have much at stake and require comprehensive strategy execution.

Think of every assassination you've ever heard about. For most people, a few of these major ones come to mind: Caesar, Abraham Lincoln, John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Anwar Sadat, John Lennon, Israel’s Prime Minister Rabin, Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto.

From start to finish, all of these attacks — combined — took place in less than one minute. And the hundreds of attacks studied for this book, all of them combined, took place in less than a half-hour. Those thirty minutes, surely the most influential in world history, offer important insights that can help today’s protectors defeat tomorrow’s attackers.

operational risk

IPR Risk: Beijing Olympics 2008 & Beyond...

The global corporate security directors have been planning for the 2008 Olympic Games in China for well over a year now. Company employees of Fortune 500 institutions who are in the intellectual property and branding departments have been working feverishly for even longer. What do the two have in common?

Safety, Security and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Protection to name a few. The stakes are tremendous and the world's stage for sports and marketing is coming soon to a web site, cell phone and e-mail in your control. These Operational Risks are growing especially to Corporate Travelers and other Executive Management who have engaged in negotiations and business deals for the past 24 months. Let's put some of this into context:

China Customs is committed to providing Beijing Olympic Games with good service in all respects and is entitled to conduct control over Olympic materials entering or leaving China Customs territory (hereafter referred to as the territory) in accordance with relevant laws and regulations. This notice applies to the completion of Customs formalities and the payment of Customs duties and the taxes collected by Customs on behalf of other government departments for importation of all materials entering or leaving the territory (hereafter referred to as the inward and outward materials) for the Olympic Games, Paralympics, testing-games, torch relay and other related activities during Beijing Olympic Games and its preparation period. The time for Beijing Olympic Games and its preparation period refer to the time starting from January 1st,, 2007 to October 17th,, 2008.

This is a facet of the puzzle that corporate marketing and operations management have ironed out for the most part. However, what is being addressed from another Intellectual Property perspective is another question. The Digital Age is certainly upon us and this brings a heightened sensitivity to the strategy for employees who plan on visiting China, before, during and after the Olympic Games in 2008.

Companies often have negotiated contractual obligations to protect confidential and trade secret information of customers, vendors, and business partners. Companies aggressively guard against theft or loss of intellectual property, however, the loss of sensitive employee and customer information can be just as damaging. Lose trust with your customer and you may lose the customer. Additionally, the media and public are paying increased attention to privacy breaches. Companies risk significant public embarrassment—not to mention potential litigation—if they fail to appropriately safeguard private and confidential information. Courts nationwide are also taking an increasingly intolerant view of companies that fail to take reasonable efforts to protect sensitive employee and customer data. The digital age has significantly increased the risk of data losses.

Security Advisory and OPS Risk Consulting firms have been gearing up for challenges global corporations face in the next six months. Increasing awareness, educating and training employees while testing the soundness of legal and security policies is just the beginning:

“The next wave of global coordinated attacks blends physical, logical and cyber exploits – specifically targeting high-value intellectual property and customer information around the world,” said Watters, iSIGHT Partners’ Founder, Chairman & CEO. “This trend will dominate the future threat landscape.”

John Watters knows the stakes and understands the magnitude of the digital challenges faced by corporate entities across the globe. In the wake of the speeding boat towards brand presence and intellectual property rights management, lies another common and misunderstood threat. It's called "guanxi".

Understanding this threat in the context and relevance to corporate stakeholders is vital. The focus on developing a vigilant strategy for interacting with business partners in China is imperative. Prudent CSO's and GC's are well on their way to rolling out the legal programs and security management training to mitigate the risks to their employees and their precious corporate secrets. This is the result of some very well known cases involving counterfeiting and enforcement of trademarks and intellectual property.

What might be less well known, is how digital information is being removed without your knowledge from devices such as laptops, cell phones and PDAs such as a Blackberry while you walk through the hotel lobby or the airport waiting area. Here is some easy advice and a simple strategy as you contemplate your intineary for the Olympic Games. Leave it at home, locked up in your corporate office.

operational risk

Threat Detection & Management...

Robert Young Pelton's Travel Tips may be common sense. These are also the type of tips you get from those expensive executive seminars where no one ever gets out of their seat for two days.

If you are going to take an attitude of really protecting your organizations most valuable assets then you have to train your people in real life scenarios. The goal is to overcome the panic modes and replace them with smart actions to save your life and your companies precious information.

For those who travel on business into regions of political or religious instability it should be company policy that each individual travel with at least an experienced partner. Also essential is that both have gone through extensive hands on training to detect surveillance as well as manage emergency situations with smart decisions. For more on this visit: Threat Detection & Management