The changing threat environment
Posted: 12 July 2004
The face of the Middle East has changed dramatically over recent months with a series of issues around the region changing the profile of the threat and creating new risks in previously stable environments.
As has been so vividly seen in Saudi Arabia attacks on economic soft spots have driven many to leave the country and whilst the mass exodus of the media reports may be (in part) exaggerated there has been a general trend towards moving dependants and non-essential personnel out of the country.
The phrase ‘non-essential personnel’ is also worth looking at. In the oil services companies who could be classed as non-essential? With so many specialist tasks to be maintained on a daily basis there are few if any personnel that would be considered ‘non-essential’. This brings the dilemma of securing those personnel who remain in country against the current, and ever developing risk that they may face whether that be on the work site, residential areas or during travel from any of these locations.
The majority of multinational corporations employing expatriate staff in the Kingdom are taking measures to mitigate the risks faced in the country but a few key mistakes are being made leaving these companies off-balance following each attack and being ‘reactive’ rather than ‘proactive’ in their approach to security and contingency planning.
Having had the opportunity to view developments in a number of areas across the country over the past months a number of trends have been within MNCs. Some of the more common mistakes made include upgrading security to combat only the most recent type of attack seen.
An example of this is where an organisation may build new vehicles defences such as improved vehicle barriers, hydraulic ramps and tyre shredding systems to stop vehicle borne explosives from entering their areas. This probably a justified upgrade to make but on its own it unfortunately does not provide adequate protection against a small group of gunmen entering the location. As was later seen in Yanbu and Khobar small groups of armed men do have the ability to penetrate security measures but, in the example above, this would not have been guarded against.
In the current example the organisation would now, following an armed attack, upgrade their defences once again against this type of armed intrusion. Not a costly measure but again keeps the organisation of balance and requiring integration with the original defences. And so the process goes on.
In a more strategic approach organisations should not be focusing on the latest attacks and tactics used by the militants. A detailed threat assessment is the first stage of the security process and without this vital step security planning is left wandering without any real direction. The threat assessment would outline potential risks faced, types of attack that could be used, assess the likelihood of each for each given location and then plan to mitigate against this broader range of risks.
The benefits of this holistic approach are many. For the accounting minded, and those on unfortunately tight budgets, it would undoubtedly save on time, resources and money as the entire process can be completed as one project rather than resurrecting the project team time and time again as the security environment changes.
For those with more of a direct security concern this is the most effective way to gather all relevant information and produce a strategic security and contingency plan as required by each specific element of the organisation in each specific working and security environment.
There is no ‘one fits all’ template for security and contingency planning and even when completed these plans require regular updating as the local, national and in some cases regional situation develops. What may work today could be rendered unusable as situations change. Security, contingency and crisis management planning are a constant process but should all start from the same foundation – a detailed threat assessment.
Strategic planning should not be overlooked by any organisation in any environment. The threat may not always be terrorism, risks can come from the type operations of the organisation, the geographic location they work in climatic conditions and more. The current focus in the region is very much on the militant operations and defence against them but there are many other factors to take into account in the strategic approach to security, contingency and crisis management planning.
Headquartered in Hong Kong with offices in 15 countries around the world, H&A is one of the world's leading security and risk management consultancies. H&A combine local knowledge and expertise with world renowned professionalism, leading edge tech nology partnerships and a comprehensive range of integrated services to bring a meaningful, value-added solution to our clients. We address a wide range of non-transferrable risks that threaten our clients operations and develop comprehensive strategies for both prevention and response.
H&A advocates a strategic approach to risk management and security. To adequately protect a company's tangible and intangible assets enterprise-wide, a risk management strategy must be aligned with the overall business drivers and strategic objectives of the client. It should provide the company with a competitive advantage in that it adds flexibility and resilience to the company's operations and objectives while often lowering costs and improving quality. H&A is one of the world's few firms able to provide this level of consultative advice coupled with the integrated, in house resources needed to implement the strategy at a tactical level and ensure quality service. Our strategic and integrated approach is favoured by some of the world's largest corporations operating in diverse and difficult markets around the world.
Hill & Associates is a leading provider of security services in The Middle East. Our experience and connections enable us to offer a comprehensive range of risk management and protective services to mitigate the current threats unique to hostile environments. Our Middle East regional Headquarters in Dubai provides us with an ideally located regional hub from where we can coordinate operations in support of offices in Iraq and Kuwait .
H&A are renowned for providing professional risk management and protective security services. H&A have been actively engaged in the provision of full-time risk management services, protective security coverage and advice to personnel from multinational corporations operating within high risk areas such as Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Turkey.
For more information see http://www.hill-assoc.com/
Posted by Richard Price,
Editor Pipeline Magazine
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