Security Roles Essay Example

The institutional success many a times is attributed to the production department. This is further augmented by the public which ordinarily associate institutions by their products. For instance, Apple Inc. would be appreciated for its computer products, the Department of Justice would be appreciated by the number of cases it prosecutes and General Electric would be reviewed based on the machines it releases. What everyone seems to forget is that production departments, in whatever, sector the institution operates, do not work in a vacuum. Often, they are supported by other departments such as marketing, research, security and human resource management. In this paper, particular attention is focused on the role of the security department in the protection of organizational assets and by extension in the success of the organization. From the outset, it is cardinal to note that security informs an imperative function in the organization that cannot be overlooked.
The security department entails the provision of security. In that sense, the term security can be broadly looked at a state of safety and well-being. In this context, organization asset security refers to the safety and well-keeping of organizational assets. This role can be particularly difficult in a situation where assets are highly valued. Ordinarily, security department categorize assets in three groups; named into three classes of A, B and C. Class A often carries the assets that have the highest value to the organization. Ordinarily these would be less bulky but critically important assets. An example could be the safe-box that carries the cash check book. A check book’s critical role is seen in the context of the financial purse string of the organization. An access to the check book implies that one can deprive the organization of millions of dollars in fraudulent accounting. Other critical class A assets includes formulas and trade secrets in whatever form they have been stored, research information and organizational databases. Class B items are often less critical but equally important while Class C items include all other organizational assets.
In order to secure organizational assets, security officers have the onerous task of maintaining a tight ring of security especially around class A assets. One approach adopted entails the informational secrecy. This is to the extent that only few personnel and by extension external parties have information on class A assets. In highly confidential cases, a security clearance procedure is taken whereby only personnel with some level of clearance may access some of information. This has become increasingly essential especially in the modern times of cybercrime. In such cases, several fraudulent security breaches are performed though the internet and other information technology platforms.
Another approach entails the continuous and regular checks read together with rotations. In such an approach, a highly ranked officer consistently physically checks the assets in whatever place they (read assets) have been stored or secured. The security personnel manning the stores are also continuously rotated before accumulating too much information than they should ordinarily have. Such control measures are critical where information about assets should be limited to the bear minimum. In some organization, the highly classified asset is often in random and regular motion so that no employee, insider or third party can easily speculate where it is being kept.
Professional security personnel must muster a degree of professionalism only akin to elitist training they receive. Some of the areas in need of professional approaches include risk analysis and mitigation, investigation and prevention measures as well as management and administration. In risk analysis and mitigation, specialist knowledge is required for the assessment of the risk threats based on the state of affairs. Such risks must be mitigated through the implementation of stopgap and preventive measures. In addition, security implementation plans must always have alternative contingency measures pursued in the event of any technicalities. Further, in administration and management, security officers must determine and assess the competency, suitability and performance of their staff. This requires analytical and as well as observational abilities that would easily pick out the critical factors in employees. In many cases, security lapses occur due to errors in judgment and confidential informational leaks. Both of these are related to the competence and suitability of staff hence the need for proper and sufficient skills.
Lastly, security cannot be offered in a vacuum just as production cannot occur in a vacuum. In that context, security department must liaise with internal and external department. Internally, the audit and performance evaluation departments are critical as they contribute immensely to the assessment of the effectiveness of the security strategies in place. In addition, if outlined in unison, the organizational performance is effective. External departments worth working with include the police department, the information and communication department as well as the local communities. That way, some of the trending crimes in the areas of operations are known before hand and stopgap measures pursued. In conclusion, implementation of security strategies with the intention of securing organizational assets requires technical and professional dispensation by the security department.

References

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