Security Education

Security education is vital to a security manager’s growth. With the motto “Solutions Begin Here”, ASIS has produced a class security training act in Las Vegas. As security professionals, it’s important to get all the education necessary to perform as top players in our profession. Because of your responsibilities in physical security, IT, or loss prevention, excellent training is vital.
There were over 24,000 people and 4,000 venders present. The convention offered several hundred classes throughout the week. Even in the midst of traditional security training I was pleased to see instruction on safeguarding classified information. I also appreciated seeing the Defense Security Services (DSS) conducting seminars. Additional classed including an introduction to DoD security and fundamentals of classification proved that even mainstream public companies were becoming aware of the growing trend in this arena.
Though there were opportunities to train in one of hundreds of classes, the overarching topics covered three primary areas: disaster preparation, converging IT with physical security, and risk management. Many of our Facility Security Officers (FSO) and industrial security specialists have many other titles in addition to security. While attending classes I was reminded of the need for all industrial security professionals to learn all areas of security in addition guarding classified materials.
We were treated to several great speakers who helped us stay focused on our awesome responsibilities and how to conduct them with limited time and resources. Former Secretary of State, Dr. Henry Kissinger thanked the security industry as “those who protect our structures and people”. Leadership guru Tom Peters, and Christopher Gardner of Pursuit of Happyness, led us on topics from current world affairs to taking charge of our future. Tom Peters provided a statement of which I’ll use to wrap up this article. “You are not security, you are risk managers. The company employees are security and you manage the risk.”