Charlie Maclean-Bristol sat down with us to discuss his upcoming webinar about how to analyze factors contributing to increased incidents in today's escalating threat landscape. To learn more about the webinar tomorrow, 8 May or register now, go here.
Q: How did you become interested in the escalating threat landscape?
I have always believed that it is the role of the Business Continuity Manager to understand the landscape in which they and their organization operate in and therefore be aware of potential threats. Although I was brought up on a small Scottish remote Hebridean Island since school, I have had a strong interest in international affairs, which led me to study International Relations at university.
Growing up, my parents ran an international charity, and their work often took them to exotic and far-flung places. This sparked my early curiosity about the wider world. In all my roles, I have traveled internationally and have always taken an active interest in the countries I’ve visited—both before the trip and on my return.
I take a keen interest in incidents around the world and actively look for lessons that can help me better prepare the organizations that employ me as a consultant. Whenever possible, I apply these insights to strengthen their resilience.
Q: What advice would you give security professionals concerned about the escalating threat landscape?
- Understand the environment in which your organization operates, and be aware of the area’s incident history—whether man-made or natural. Consider how more extreme events, such as flooding, severe weather, or temperature extremes, could affect your operations. With climate change, the fact that something hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean it won’t in the future.
- Understand your supply chain and the threats to the goods your organization relies on. Does your organization source goods from outside the local area? Do you have visibility into your tier 2, tier 3, or even further-down suppliers and the risks they face?
- Be aware of threats to your managed service providers and outsourced service partners. Disruption to these third parties could significantly impact your organization’s ability to function.
- Consider the potential impact of a cyberattack on your organization. Do you have manual workarounds in place to ensure you can continue delivering essential goods and services if systems go down?
- Ensure you have contingency plans for the most likely incidents. These plans should be practical, tested, and known to key staff members.
Q: Why should security professionals have the threat landscape and incident analysis on their radar?
Hopefully, this talk will give professionals a new perspective on incidents, helping them recognize that we do indeed live in a more dangerous and volatile world—and that we must raise our organization’s game when it comes to planning and preparedness.
Attendees will gain practical tools and techniques for horizon scanning and identifying potential incidents early, including insights into what may be happening within their own organization and among competitors—opening the door to both risk mitigation and potential opportunities.
The better you and your organization are prepared for likely future incidents, the more resilient your organization will be.
Register for the upcoming webinar here.
Charlie Maclean-Bristol, MA (Hons), PgD, FBCI, FEPS, CBCI, MCIPR, is a business continuity, cyber incident management, and crisis management consultant with over 30 years of experience. He co-founded PlanB Consulting and Business Continuity Training (BCT) and has been an ASIS member for 25 years.
