Book Review: Security Basics

​How can business managers implement a security program when they don’t have the benefit of an in-house security professional? Author Bradley Wayland has written a book to answer that need. Security for Business Professionals: How to Plan, Implement, and Manage Your Company’s Security Program covers a plethora of security and emergency planning topics, elements of risk management, and discussions of specific discipline areas, augmented with suggested exercises and training recommendations.  

The author begins with the basics of leadership and management, then moves on to cover security planning, risk assessments, safety and security program administration, and facility security design. The next part of the book deals with the disciplines of physical, information, and personnel security. The last section involves emergency response and contingency planning, along with training topics.

There is excellent breadth of security topics; however, their depth is limited by the relatively short length of the book. Each chapter has a list of references and recommended readings for those who want to know more. 

The book would be helpful to any business person with security responsibilities.

Reviewer: Paul D. Barnard, CPP, CISM (Certified Information Security Manager), SFPC (Security Fundamentals Professional Certification), is an adjunct professor in loss prevention and security management.  He has been a member of ASIS International since 1975.