Security: A Job For the Super-CSO?

The concept of security has expanded so far that the security officer’s job is in danger of spinning into separate pieces, unless it can evolve into a role which takes overall responsibilities and combines different kinds of security, according to discussions at the UK’s IFSEC security show.

While security risks have grown, the number of areas covered has expanded to include financial risks, new regulations and even the company’s image, according to discussion at IFSEC, which this year took place in Birmingham.

So security officers may have to handle CCTV and doorlocks as well as potential online sales fraud, staff background checks and role-based access to resources.

The birth of the super-CSO

“The whole concept of ‘security’ has expanded way beyond the traditional remit into areas such as brand and IP protection, human protection, loss prevention, organised crime, parallel trading, online and more traditional forms of fraud,” according to Brian Sims, editor of Security Management Today, writing on the Info4Security news service.

The endless fire-fighting still goes on, but there’s a wider issue, Sims reported. Risks have “converged”, and departments within organisations need to change the way they operate – and that change needs to come from board level.

To handle the new environment, organisations need a “cross-enterprise risk view” – and that means a lot of work finding out what the actual risks are and the best way to deal with them, from the point of view of the whole business.

According to a new report, ‘Convergence of Security Risks’ (PDF) from security industry group ASIS International, the ability to achieve meaningful convergence or a blended approach to security risk management is the responsibility of each business functional leader.

Page: 1 2

Peter Judge

Peter Judge has been involved with tech B2B publishing in the UK for many years, working at Ziff-Davis, ZDNet, IDG and Reed. His main interests are networking security, mobility and cloud

View Comments

  • But at the same there is a need to segregate security duties among different staff.

    All security in one hand or all security knowledge in one brain is anoher problem or risk which should be addressed.

Recent Posts

Apple, Google Mobile Ecosystems Should Be Investigated, CMA Told

CMA receives 'provisional recommendation' from independent inquiry that Apple,Google mobile ecosystem needs investigation

1 hour ago

Australia Rejects Elon Musk Claim About Social Media Ban For Under-16s

Government minister flatly rejects Elon Musk's “unsurprising” allegation that Australian government seeks control of Internet…

4 hours ago

Northvolt Files For Bankruptcy Protection In US

Northvolt files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States, and CEO and co-founder…

6 hours ago

UK’s CMA Readies Cloud Sector “Behavioural” Remedies – Report

Targetting AWS, Microsoft? British competition regulator soon to announce “behavioural” remedies for cloud sector

21 hours ago

Former Policy Boss At X Nick Pickles, Joins Sam Altman Venture

Move to Elon Musk rival. Former senior executive at X joins Sam Altman's venture formerly…

24 hours ago

Bitcoin Rises Above $96,000 Amid Trump Optimism

Bitcoin price rises towards $100,000, amid investor optimism of friendlier US regulatory landscape under Donald…

1 day ago