The threat landscape continues to increase in complexity, and business owners must recognize this. They are facing unique threats, from mass shootings to attacks on prominent individuals. Every business must take steps to protect its workers, customers, suppliers, and more.
However, doing so can be challenging when silos are present within the organization. Silos make it difficult to gather data intelligence and use resources wisely. As a result, a security team might fail to be proactive and hurt the company in the process. How can a company overcome this?
Communication is Key
Any silo within an organization puts people and assets at risk. In addition, these silos reduce the effectiveness of any risk management and mitigation measures the company has put into place. Every department must communicate with all other departments to know which risks are being tracked. Failing to do so leads to redundancies and valuable resources and intelligence not being shared. The best tools, such as the Genetec video monitoring software, cannot overcome this lack of communication.
For example, the HR team may have a record of an incident with an employee. The cybersecurity team might have linked an insider threat to the same employee, and the security team may have seen an incident on video and handled it. However, if these three teams don’t share information, they cannot fully grasp the extent of the problem.
All teams need a streamlined way to share information and allocate resources. When they have a system to share information quickly and easily, making connections and linking events takes less time. The entire organization finds it easier to mitigate risks, which is essential thanks to the heightened threat landscape.
Fostering This Communication
Many departments are used to operating in a silo. They have processes and guidelines in place to handle conflicts and threats as they arise. However, departments in an organization can no longer operate independently.
Upper management needs to bring people together for inclusive discussions regarding the threat landscape and mitigating risks. A centralized platform must be in place to allow departments to share information. When they do so, the organization has a better understanding of the unique threats it faces. When everyone uses the same operating language and process, threats are easier to identify.
Leaders must emphasize that everyone is responsible for security in the workplace. Security teams know they must monitor these threats, but legal and compliance might not feel the same way. They may pass this responsibility on to another department. They can no longer do so today. When departments don’t work together and employees don’t consider security their responsibility, the entire organization is at risk.
Siloed communication is harmful. An organization needs to implement tools and datasets for all employees to use. When these tools and resources are woven together, every employee knows what they must look for. When they see a security concern, they know exactly what steps to take, who to notify, and how to share the information with the larger team.
Working with an enterprise access control provider simplifies the process of breaking down these silos and replacing them with a unified security solution. Leadership must find this provider and work with it to make structural changes while investing in technology that will eliminate barriers. Doing so helps move the company toward an effective risk mitigation strategy. This strategy is what every organization needs moving forward.
