Those who have embarked on the process of convergence shared their experiences and challenges at ISC West 2019 in Las Vegas, during an SIA Education panel, Next Generation Security: The Truths, the Myths, the Future of Fusion Centers and Security Operations.
Digital transformation has been driven by convenience and efficiency, but as more companies continue along through the process, they find the convergence of the digital and physical worlds has caused disruptions in physical security, leaving organizations not only rethinking but also retooling their physical and cyber security operations.
Panel participant Todd Vigneault, director, corporate security and safety, GEICO, talked about the successes of the fusion center, one of which was the result of cutting out the silos. Bringing everything together helped avoid situations that had commonly occurred, where one team responding to a ticket then has to send the alert over to a different team.
As companies move forward in digital transformation, one common thread related to convergence, particularly with a fusion center, is that the focus needs to be about outcomes.
When building and adopting a fusion center, what is most important to its success is that “you don’t make it about you, you make it about the outcome,” said Jason Veiock, senior manager, global employee safety and security at GoDaddy. “It’s not process, not technology, but what outcome are we looking for? That’s just good IT practice, it’s not about IT security."
The cloud is the future of security, and panel moderator Guy Morgante, president of managed services, Northland Controls, said, “If you are not thinking about cloud, you better figure it out. In five to 10 years, that’s all there will be. You’re not going to have servers anymore.”
Whether talking about physical or cyber security, the overall security strategy has to consider people, process and technology. The factor that can be most challenging in talking about the future is people, but Philip Halplin, senior vice president, global security at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., said people play an important role in the value of fusion centers.
“Whether you have a SOC or a NOC, a fusion center isn’t about eliminating the jobs of people. It’s an opportunity for cross-training, giving people more meaningful work.”