Today’s global security operations centers (GSOCs) face unique challenges within the frame of reference for their own organization or vertical market – i.e., regulatory compliance, multi-region visibility, and multiple third-party agencies across the enterprise.
Still, three common challenges can be seen across the board, no matter what business you’re in:
Resourcing
The biggest challenge for security leaders managing an internal GSOC is resourcing and keeping the facility staffed 24/7. Budget limitations can mean trying to do more with fewer people. And in the guarding and operator world, high turnover rates can wreak havoc on a department’s ability to adequately staff a GSOC (some studies show that positions like these have a 100% to 300% turnover rate annually, and it costs a lot of money and time to train incoming resources).
Operational Inefficiencies
While resourcing is a critical piece, the challenges of training new operators can be exacerbated by the overwhelming number of platforms that these individuals are tasked with monitoring. Not only that, there’s an insane number of video feeds and alarms that require ongoing monitoring. High false alarm rates can also mean alarm fatigue can set in, which might lead to missed events that can be dangerous.
In so many GSOCs, the highly manual nature of assessing incoming alarms and elevating as needed can take a lot of time and energy from operators throughout their shifts, which can lead to delayed response times. Finally, the differences from one SOC to the next can mean inconsistencies related to security protocols (and the inability to know the next steps in the event of an incident).
More Security Demands
Organizations understand that the safety and security of people and assets are essential, which means the function of the GSOC is more important than ever. The increasing numbers of incidents that demand attention from various threat categories mean that security teams are navigating even more demands on their time.
The nature of threats is also changing with more complex facility breakdowns and more point solutions to monitor. The same facilities are also tasked with ensuring that regulatory compliance requirements are met and that all of the investments being made in new equipment or additional resources are leading to a return on investment (ROI) for the business (and so much of this is tied to decision-making around NEW investments, too).
“These challenges are leading to a critical breaking point for security leadership, who are beginning to explore different ways to solve some of these issues by investing in technology that enables better response and management. Sometimes, this might mean thinking completely outside the box and considering AI-driven tech.”
How AI Helps Physical Security Teams
As physical security teams grapple with these challenges, and are tasked with solving them, they are poised to disrupt technology as they use it. And AI is the answer.
The addition of AI-driven technology that is actually feasible for organizations to adopt (meaning, it can be actually transformative from an operational perspective) is set to push digital transformation even further across the entire organization. Physical security done right can and will produce an ROI, as security teams can now focus more on high-value, more complex strategic initiatives, such as business continuity and supply chain resilience, instead of alarm-chasing.
The growth in AI has already proven to be useful and successful in the cybersecurity realm. Cybersecurity tools leverage AI to process and analyze large volumes of data in real-time. This technology allows organizations to detect and respond to threats more swiftly and effectively than relying solely on human analysis. By employing advanced algorithms and pattern recognition methods, AI-driven security systems can pinpoint anomalies, suspicious behaviors, and potential vulnerabilities that human operators might overlook and allow humans to fix the potential issues before they become significant threats.
In physical security applications, similar outcomes can be achieved. The advances in machine learning and computer vision, the accessibility of AI technology, and the growing need for automated threat detection mean that AI is a natural fit to help address some of the resourcing, operations, and security challenges we mentioned in this guide.
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