A Security Operations Center (SOC) serves as the nerve center for monitoring, detecting, and responding to security incidents. Integrating Protective Intelligence within the SOC framework not only bolsters its efficacy, but it also empowers proactive measures against potential vulnerabilities.

Understanding Protective Intelligence

Protective Intelligence encompasses the proactive gathering, analysis, and dissemination of information to preempt and mitigate security threats. Unlike traditional reactive approaches, which respond after an incident occurs, Protective Intelligence focuses on identifying potential risks before they materialize. This proactive stance enables security teams to anticipate threats, assess vulnerabilities, and implement preemptive measures, thereby minimizing the effects of a potential event.

Fortifying the SOC with Protective Intelligence provides security teams with actionable information that was previously non-existent or difficult to come by. Today, robust platforms like samdesk (), Dataminr (), and LifeRaft (), are game-changers in empowering security teams with Protective Intelligence.

In an era defined by evolving cyber threats, geopolitical instability, and emerging risks, the role of Protective Intelligence in enhancing the performance of SOCs cannot be overstated. By adopting a proactive stance rooted in intelligence-driven decision-making, organizations can fortify their security program, mitigate risks, and safeguard their assets against potential threats. Here are some of the key features and benefits these platforms provide:

Early Threat Detection: One of the primary advantages of incorporating Protective Intelligence into SOC operations is the ability to detect threats at an early stage. By leveraging various sources – such as open-source intelligence, social media monitoring, and threat intelligence feeds – security analysts can identify indicators of potential threats before they escalate. This early detection enables swift intervention, preventing potential breaches or attacks.

By analyzing threat patterns and tactics, security teams can devise preemptive measures to deter potential adversaries.

Risk Assessment and Prioritization: Protective Intelligence provides valuable insights for risk assessment and prioritization within the SOC. By analyzing the credibility and severity of threats, security teams can allocate resources effectively, focusing on the most critical areas of concern. This targeted approach increases operational efficiency and ensures that the SOC remains vigilant against the most significant risks.

Enhanced Situational Awareness: Real-time intelligence feeds and threat analysis enhance the situational awareness of SOC operators. By continuously monitoring evolving threats and trends, security analysts gain a comprehensive understanding of the threat landscape. This heightened awareness enables proactive decision-making and rapid response to emerging security challenges, minimizing potential disruptions to business operations.

Threat Mitigation Strategies: Protective Intelligence enables the development of proactive threat mitigation strategies tailored to specific risks. By analyzing threat patterns and tactics, security teams can devise preemptive measures to deter potential adversaries. Whether through enhanced perimeter security, employee awareness training, or advanced threat-hunting techniques, Protective Intelligence empowers SOC operators to stay one step ahead of potential threats.

Intelligence-Led Investigations: Integrating Protective Intelligence into SOC operations facilitates intelligence-led investigations into security incidents. By correlating internal security data with external threat intelligence, analysts can uncover patterns, trends, and indicators of compromise more effectively. This intelligence-led approach streamlines incident response efforts, enabling faster containment and remediation of security breaches.

Proactive Threat Hunting: Protective Intelligence empowers SOC teams to engage in proactive threat-hunting activities. By leveraging advanced analytics and threat intelligence, analysts can proactively search for signs of malicious activity within the network. This proactive stance allows security teams to identify and neutralize threats before they cause significant harm, enhancing the efficacy of organizational defenses.

Collaborative Intelligence Sharing: Effective Protective Intelligence relies on collaboration and information sharing both within the organization and with external partners. By participating in threat intelligence sharing communities and industry forums, SOC teams can gain access to valuable insights and collective intelligence. This collaborative approach enhances the accuracy and timeliness of threat intelligence, strengthening the overall security posture of the organization.

Challenges to Avoid

While the benefits of Protective Intelligence are undeniable, implementing and managing an effective program within the SOC comes with its own set of challenges. The following considerations should be acknowledged and planned for when considering and deploying a Protective Intelligence program. This will minimize any negative or adverse effects of using this technology.

Data Overload: The sheer volume of data generated by various intelligence sources can overwhelm SOC analysts, making it challenging to separate qualified threats from noise. Narrowing the focus of the information these systems collect will help reduce the volume of inbound information that the SOC needs to review.

Resource Constraints: Building and maintaining a robust protective intelligence program requires dedicated resources, including skilled personnel, technology infrastructure, and ongoing training. To implement a Protective Intelligence program, there should be an analysis of whether current SOC staff are able to handle the additional tasks associated with accurately and efficiently curating the inbound intelligence.

Integration Complexity: Integrating disparate intelligence sources and tools into the SOC ecosystem can be complex, requiring seamless interoperability and data correlation capabilities. It is best to crawl before you run, keeping the program simple before creating multiple system dependencies.

Privacy and Compliance:��Adhering to privacy regulations and compliance standards while collecting and analyzing intelligence data is critical to maintaining trust and legality. It is important to collaborate with your legal team when creating a Protective Intelligence program to play it safe.

This article originally appeared in the�����Ǵ���. Paul F Benne is the President of �Ӱ�ԭ�� and has over 35 years in the protective service industry.

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VIPs may be targets of stalkers, protesters, the paparazzi, and other bad actors seeking to do harm. Security teams need the tools to maintain situational awareness and facilitate command and control wherever heightened protection is called for. It’s a tall order.

Public events like parades, political rallies, sporting events, speeches, and performances, as well as private affairs, like the weddings and funerals of the rich and famous, occur in locations that are difficult to secure. Coverage must often span massive areas. Threats can come from any direction, including overhead and far beyond the event’s official perimeter.

Event security is focused on maintaining a secure environment for the public at large. Meanwhile, executive protection services must stand up separate command and controls dedicated to keeping their clients safe.

Deploying a dedicated command and control is expensive, as it must be equipped with much of the same technology as a permanent security operations center (SOC). Plus, it must provide reliable and redundant connectivity to all systems and devices utilized across the event site without the benefit of a permanent infrastructure.

Public sector dignitaries have protective details equipped to mount exhaustive security operations on their behalf. The U.S. Capitol Police, Secret Service, federal, and state agencies each have an abundance of resources, including a fleet of mobile command vehicles ready to deploy to protect dignitaries and politicians. The private sector does not. Unless such individuals face a specific threat against them, they typically must pay for their own security.

Fortunately, a new option has recently entered the security marketplace: mobile command as a service (MCaaS). Just as VIPs may invest in fractional jet ownership, MCaaS provides access to a fully equipped, state-of-the-art mobile command vehicle for a specified number of engagements per year.

When comparing services, here’s what stakeholders should consider.

What Technologies Are Included?
To approximate the command-and-control systems utilized by public sector dignitaries, an MCaaS solution should include an array of integrated security technologies from best-in-class manufacturers. Look for:

Video surveillance

Video analytics

Aerial drone surveillance

Drone detection

Gunfire detection

Perimeter protection

Real-time weather monitoring

Social media monitoring

Communication systems are equally important. A fully equipped mobile command should offer the following:

VoIP telephones

2-way radios

Cellular PTT radios

Satellite telephone, TV, and radio

Satellite and cellular data

Public address systems

The service should include the deployment of temporary cameras and other devices across the event site. Coverage should extend to broad perimeter monitoring, while placing an emphasis on areas where the client is most vulnerable, such as the green room, stage, and any walkways the client may traverse.

Live monitoring of social media is critical, as it may provide advance warning of potential threats. There should also be communication channels between event security and private security teams. If event security must contend with danger anywhere onsite, private security must have sufficient knowledge to evacuate its charge via the safest route possible

How Is It Deployed?
The “S” in mobile command as a service differentiates today’s new offerings from more traditional rental models. A quick Web search of mobile command rentals will result in rental trailers equipped with communication systems and a workstation for video surveillance monitoring.

MCaaS represents a much broader suite of technologies, plus it includes the expertise of security professionals to assist private details with systems engineering, training, and onsite deployment. They can also attend events, working side-by-side with members of the executive protection service. MCaaS provides high-profile executives, high-net-worth individuals, and celebrities with the same tools and technologies used to protect top-level public sector VIPs.

To ensure the availability of vehicles, MCaaS providers may cap the number of clients they enroll to maintain a suitable client/vehicle ratio. They may also offer services to a limited geographic area, minimizing travel time before an event. An overextended MCaaS provider may not be able to deliver services when needed, negating the value of the investment.

A Paradigm Shift
The security industry’s digital transformation has brought countless new technologies to the market. Unfortunately, they only help the customers that can afford them. Many technology manufacturers have migrated to a recurring revenue model to reduce upfront hardware costs, thus making their cutting-edge solutions accessible to a broader base. Customers benefit from always-current systems that require less maintenance, include free updates, and offer operational expenditure tax advantages.

MCaaS offers similar value propositions, albeit on a grander scale. VIPs, or the executive protection services that protect them, may have previously deemed a fully-equipped mobile command as beyond budget. MCaaS will level the playing field, bringing grade-A resources to the private sector. It’s a paradigm shift whose time has come.

Article Link –

Paul F Benne is the President of �Ӱ�ԭ�� and has over 35 years in the protective service industry.

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For years, AX – formally known as Anime Con – earned the unfortunate nickname of “line-con” due to massive crowds that formed just to gain entrance, which meant headaches for security and operations staff.

Thanks to a unique combination of weapons screening technology, guard and canine services, and temporary security technology – all coordinated by security firm �Ӱ�ԭ�� – AX 2022 was a rousing success. The project has been named has been named as an honorable mention in the 2022 Security Vanguard Awards from SecurityInfoWatch, Security Business magazine and Security Technology Executive (STE) magazine.

The Crowd Control Challenge
Based on turnstiles at the entrances, more than 110,000 people attended the Anime Expo over the three days at multiple venues, including the Los Angeles Convention Center, Novo (an indoor club), and the Microsoft Theater.

Efficient screening was the first challenge for Michael Grossman, a senior advisor at New York City-based �Ӱ�ԭ��
Photo: Anime Expo
A carefully crafted screening strategy helped was part of a successful crowd control effort at the 2022 Anime Expo in Los Angeles.
A carefully crafted screening strategy helped was part of a successful crowd control effort at the 2022 Anime Expo in Los Angeles.
Consulting, who was responsible for all security planning and operations, including the preparation of a comprehensive operations plan and the management of the overall on- site security operations.

A massive crowd is one thing, but the vast majority of these attendees came to the AX venues in full costumes – many including imitation weapons. The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA), the event organizer, also required COVID-19 checkpoints.

“We were getting people into the buildings, but the crowding on the outside [creates] a soft target,” explains Matthew Thomas, SPJA’s senior director of operations.

Thankfully, Grossman and the �Ӱ�ԭ�� team came up with a multi-faceted solution, combining high-throughput weapons screening technology with good, old-fashioned security officers – provided by Ayvar Security, JRM Security and Executive Event Services – and canine teams from MSA Security Services, a division of Allied Universal. Additionally, RFID badging implemented at the show helped with counting attendees and protected against people getting in without the proper credentials.

“It is not all high-tech, but when you use all those things to your advantage and integrate their use, that makes a system more efficient and there are a lot fewer problems,” Grossman says.

As for the technology aspect of the crowd control technology, Thomas and Grossman zeroed in on the Evolv Express, a high-throughput walk-through weapons screening system that uses digital sensors and artificial intelligence to spot concealed weapons and other threats.

The company claims a unit can screen 4,000 people per hour, and that the technology has been successfully used at stadiums, theme parks, hospitals, schools and other busy venues. Ideally, the technology is accurate enough that people are not required to stop, empty their pockets or remove bags as they are screened.

2022 was the first year that AX used the screening technology, and Thomas – who held previous security operations roles at Universal Studios and Westfield malls – says it enhanced the throughput of patrons from 55 people per hour to 300 people per hour at each entry point.

“Honestly, I think it was a little too quick, and we slowed that down on site just to be very thorough,” Thomas admits. “That was due to my thinking that it is impossible. I am used to the metal detector going off on every belt buckle.”

Achieving Situational Awareness
Grossman – who retired from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in 2013 as chief of the Homeland Security Division and later served as SVP of U.S. National Security for Westfield Corp., where he oversaw security operations for 32 malls across the nation – assembled a security command center at AX that coordinated the activities of all security and life safety agencies, including convention center security and private contractors, Los Angeles Police Department, and many others.

Through the assistance of Las Vegas-based Unified Command, a temporary surveillance system was also deployed, with cameras placed at strategic locations to maintain situational awareness at key points throughout the venue. The temporary system focused on areas outside the venues, since the buildings had their own cameras.

“We were working with the existing Convention Center security with their technology and adding on our technology to compliment,” Thomas says. “That really helps us get good angles to manage crowds and respond to certain things from the [security monitoring] perspective.”

Those working in the Unified Command post could monitor cameras, zoom in on nearly any area or focus on certain cameras. “They know exactly the things that need to be seen and where to put cameras,” Grossman says, adding that the command post at AX was similar to one that he might set up for a large wildfire or other major event.

“You have representatives from all the agencies that do security or emergency response in the same room and monitor for 24 hours a day through the entire event,” he explains. “If you don’t have adequate planning, and documented planning, a clear organizational chart, clear lines of communication, and contingency plans, [if] something comes up, it is pretty tough to manage,” Grossman says.

In reviewing the successful AX 2022 security operations, Thomas says “the secret sauce is there right now” to maintain an effective security program for AX in the future. As for similar events, he implores event security managers to take advantage of all the technology and tools available, even if the cost is hard to swallow.

“All it could take is one situation, and you no longer have an event anymore,” Thomas says. “I like spending a bunch of money on security…because [it means] we’ve done the most that we can to protect everybody.”

John Dobberstein is managing editor of SecurityInfoWatch.com.

Project Overview: Anime Expo

Project submitted by: �Ӱ�ԭ��

Weapons Screening: Evolv Technology

Temporary Surveillance System: Unified Command

Video Management System: Milestone

Guard Services: Ayvar Security, JRM Security and Executive Event Services

Canine Services: MSA Security Services

This article is part of the annual Security Vanguard Awards, presented by SecurityInfoWatch.com, Security Business magazine and Security Technology Executive (STE) magazine. Learn more about the Vanguard and its many winners over the years at www.securityinfowatch.com/vanguard.

Article Link – https://www.securityinfowatch.com/security-executives/article/21284746/keeping-350k-anime-expo-attendees-safe

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Using their extensive security knowledge, Paul teaches the officers about Perimeter Security and the Security Survey. John teaches on Video Surveillance System and Biometrics.

Other classes such as Access Control, Window Glazing, and CPTED are provided. ��All the instructors are volunteers and many, including Paul and John, are members of ASIS councils.

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In addition to several speakers, the event hosted several security vendors showcasing their products and services.

For more information on the Western New Jersey Chapter of ASIS International click here:��

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