​Build Your Network at GS​​X

Global Security Exchange (GSX) is renowned for its world-class networking opportunities. Every year, attendees come together to form lasting connections that impact their business and build networks that serve as outreach for professional help and advice for years to come.

Connections are made throughout GSX—in sessions, receptions, lunches, and the exhibit hall. There’s no better place to network with the global security community. Here’s a sneak peek at some of the events in store when the security profession convenes in Chicago for GSX this 8–12 September.

The week kicks off on Sunday evening when the GSX Opening Celebration transforms the popular Chicago landmark Revel Motor Row into a “Chicago on the Silver Screen” party. Greet old friends and make some new ones as you enjoy food, beverages, and entertainment in themed rooms paying tribute to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Blues Brothers, and Chicago.

Monday’s Awards Reception features the Outstanding Security Performance Awards (OSPAs) and provides an opportunity to celebrate achievements in the industry. Join us as we honor ASIS volunteers and recognize outstanding performers across the security sector.

There are plenty of chances to catch up with friends and colleagues in the halls and across the show floor. Don’t miss Tuesday’s ASIS Happy Hour right on the show floor. Share a drink with fellow attendees and exhibitors and relive the highlights of the day.

At Wednesday’s President Reception—the annual can’t-miss GSX event—we are going back in time to the 1980s: the decade of Madonna, Prince, Journey, Back to the Future, and Top Gun. Bring your best ’80s attire as we come together for live entertainment, iconic video games, food, drinks, and top-notch networking.

Register for an All-Access Pass before 26 July and save $100 on your ticket to these events and more. Visit GSX.org/ASISNews.

CSO Summit Recap: The Art of​​ Influence

“There is no greater challenge than getting things done through other people.” With those words in his opening keynote, executive trainer Andrew Donofrio paraphrased the theme of ASIS International’s 12th Annual CSO Summit, held in Washington, D.C., in May.

While influence is critical—and difficult to execute—for all managers, it is particularly tricky for chief security officers. That’s because they manage more diverse issues and people, Donofrio said. Security must routinely interact with employees, clients, vendors, compliance specialists, finance, IT, the board, operations, the C-suite, and many others.

Summit master of ceremonies Brian Reich, CPP, asked a panel of non-security executives from engineering, healthcare, and aerospace about how CSOs could best work with them to add value. Joanne Caruso, chief legal and administration officer at Jacobs, emphasized communicating through clear and direct language, avoiding jargon.

Tabletop exercises invited attendees to discuss ways of approaching the C-suite about detailed scenarios, including the company’s acquisition of a high-risk asset, a board trip to a country with a terrorist threat, corporate deliberations about decent­ralizing security, and access control issues at a financial firm. Attendees shared their approaches to each issue.

Keynote speaker Cathy Lanier, former Washington, D.C., police chief and current CSO of the National Football League (NFL), presented two case studies of bringing technology into disparate cultures. Through video and photos, she depicted how she used data analytics both to identify culprits and to protect the Super Bowl and 2019 NFL Draft. 

Following an evening reception that brought CSOs to the National Law Enforcement Memorial Museum, the Summit’s final day featured a panel on enterprise security risk management (ESRM), which offered concrete examples of how security could implement this philosophy to create business opportunities. Two intelligence specialists enlightened attendees on how the C-suite embraces the intelligence function when its fruits are tied into the business plan and strategic initiatives.

CSOs will have the opportunity to continue exploring exclusive education at Global Security Exchange (GSX) this September. 

Chapter Spotlight: ​ASIS Victoria

ASIS International Victoria, Australia Chapter Chair Pascal Engler sat in on the chapter’s meetings before he first joined ASIS. Invigorated by the quality of the professional development opportunities he encountered at these meetings, he joined in 2012 and volunteered with the chapter’s executive committee the very next year.

He became the program coordinator for the chapter so he could take an active role in building the strong, high-impact events he’d come to enjoy—a role that he now continues as chapter chair.  

“Approximately 40 percent of our chapter’s event attendees are not ASIS members,” Engler shares. “We always hope that guests leave with more knowledge and understanding of the topic that was presented and that they see the value of coming together with their security peers and potentially joining us as full ASIS members.”

Each year the chapter conducts a survey of its members to solicit suggestions on the most-desired discussion topics for upcoming chapter events. Armed with this information, the chapter’s executive committee looks to its members and wider industry colleagues to find speakers well suited to present on these topics.

Engler served as the lead organizer for the 2017 ASIS Australia Conference. At this event, nearly 120 attendees listened to presentations on cybersecurity, terrorism, security management, and psychology risk. The chapter will host the conference again in October 2019.

The Victoria, Australia Chapter’s hard work was recognized when it received the I.B. Hale Chapter of the Year Award at Global Security Exchange (GSX) in Las Vegas in 2018. Presented annually, the I.B. Hale Award recognizes outstanding chapters for their contribution to ASIS and the security profession over the preceding year. The chapter was honored for membership growth and high-quality education events and programs, under Engler’s leadership.

The chapter anticipates a successful 2019 conference, focusing on security in a changing environment—with deep dives and interactive presentations on terrorism, human behavior, technology, and future risks.

Food Defense & ​Agriculture Security Council Spotlight

Imagine a can of seafood being prepared. The food is batched. Seasoning is added. The food is put in its can. Then, as the can moves along the conveyor belt, a disgruntled employee approaches and adds shards of glass to the can. How can this scenario be prevented?

The ASIS International Food Defense and Agriculture Security Council comprises global security professionals in the food and agriculture industry. Their work advances the security perspective in the protection of food.

“There have been years and years of work protecting food safety—protecting food from accidental contamination,” says Frank Pisciotta, council vice chair. “Our goal is to bring the food security perspective, looking at criminal and terrorist intent to contaminate the food supply.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced unprecedented regulations on food defense, providing “Focused Mitigation Strategies to Protect Food Against Intentional Adulteration​” guidance aimed at preventing incidents with a widespread impact on public health. 

“When the regulation came out, companies by default handed it off to their food safety teams,” adds Pisciotta. “It’s a situation where security has to arm-wrestle itself to the table to have a place in the food defense discussion.”

The council has engaged with ASIS Government Relations to offer meaningful comments on the new FDA guidance during the federal comment period, offering an interpretation of how the regulation would impact the work of physical security specialists.

“Our council teleconferences monthly with major companies to discuss food defense issues,” says Pisciotta, “and our participation is very valuable. When we share something like an estimate of what a card reader costs, they’re in awe. They didn’t know it would be that expensive. We’re trying to make a broader influence from an ASIS and council perspective.”

Creating pipelines for information sharing is one of the council’s primary goals. Several critical infrastructure sectors have established Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs) in the United States. When participating organizations experience critical incidents, they share lessons learned with the ISAC—and the ISAC shares this information with its member groups, including relevant federal agencies. There is no ISAC for the food industry, and the council is working hard to establish one.

In recent years, the council also produced content to share food defense best practices with the ASIS community. Pisciotta contributed a food defense article in the June 2018 issue of Security Management, and the council produced an ASIS webinar—“Food Defense: From Theory to Reality”—in October 2017.

At GSX in Chicago this 10 September, Pisciotta and council chair James Summers are partnering with the ASIS IT Security Council to present “Using Profiles and Root Causes to Create Effective Insider Threat Tripwires​”—an interactive case study that identifies an early warning system for insider attacks.