The Global Security Operations Center (GSOC) is not new. It has been around for years, primarily as a central unit that identifies or responds to threats. In fact, until fairly recently, GSOCs have been physical places; rooms where security staff monitor camera feeds, officer schedules and other day-to-day security issues.

In other words, GSOC operators have been the 911 operators of the enterprise, and like 911 operators, they’ve been reactive. Their job has been to respond to threats, file reports, and liaise with local authorities.

However, this traditional approach to risk no longer fits the needs of most enterprises. The rise of ESRM has shown the importance of a proactive, data-informed approach to physical security. By equipping your GSOC with the proper tools and technology, your organization empowers it to become the nerve center of your enterprise. Using a risk management tool, your GSOC can adopt a much more proactive approach to risk and security.

Why should GSOCs be proactive?

The job of a GSOC operator has always been to respond: to incidents, to calls, to personnel who need a floor plan, or advice on how to handle a security incident.

This may work in smaller organizations, but in larger enterprises, this role becomes inefficient — especially if the enterprise hasn’t embraced technology, risk analysis, or threat intelligence.

Without strong risk management data about every site, GSOC operators are put in the position of constantly reacting to incidents or putting out fires. Everything may seem urgent, or a site may be so siloed that it has its own security procedures and policies, causing confusion when the GSOC attempts to respond to an incident — and confusion is the last thing an enterprise needs during a crisis.

However, when the GSOC is equipped with complete data about every site, an enterprise is able to move away from an ad hoc approach to security, and use ESRM to build a proactive security organization.

What is Enterprise Security Risk Management (ESRM)?

Enterprise Security Risk Management (ESRM) is a comprehensive approach to managing an enterprise’s risk. Using tools like risk management platforms, data analysis, vulnerability identification, planning, and continuous monitoring, ESRM is able to help security professionals identify, assess, and mitigate potential threats to an organization's assets.

The key benefit of ESRM, however, is that it’s proactive. Risk assessment data and threat intelligence empowers organizations to plan ahead for specific risk scenarios.

How can risk management technology improve the GSOC?

When you are conducting regular risk analyses, and when you’ve invested in technology that serves that information to your staffers in real time, your GSOC goes beyond monitoring video feeds — it becomes an intelligence operation center.

Threat intelligence and analytical data can help your people make better decisions. For example, when your GSOC team has the right information, they can modify countermeasures to prevent incidents.

For example, if your threat intelligence shows an uptick in robberies near one of your sites, your GSOC can proactively assign a security officer to that site to deter theft. If there have been car break-ins in the area, your team may increase patrols of security guards in your parking lots.

Your GSOC should have access to a range of risk data about the enterprise, including:

• Updated risk assessment data from each site

• Floor plans

• Camera feeds

• Feeds from access control, AI and robots

• Threat intelligence, such as weather, Case Management Systems, and crime data

• Company-wide policies and procedures

• Contact information for leaders and personnel at each site

• Regulations that sites or the enterprise needs to comply with

Together, all of this information empowers enterprises to make informed decisions about risk. However, to do this well, organizations must give the GSOC operators the tools they need to view relevant risk management data from all an enterprise’s locations.

How can your organization become more proactive? What challenges will your business face in 2024? Contact us now to talk to an expert about assessing your sites and gathering risk data across the enterprise.

About the Author

Daniel Young

Founder & Chief Innovation Officer

Daniel has been a security and risk advisor for more than 10 years, and is passionate about helping companies to better understand their risks to undesirable events on a daily basis. Dan previously served as the Regional Bioterrorism Coordinator for District 1 in Michigan, where he was instrumental in preparing communities for catastrophic incidents. He has also acted as the Private Security Liaison for the City of Lansing’s Critical Infrastructure Team, which identified and documented deficiencies in the city’s critical infrastructure.

He is a Co-Founder of the CSO Risk Council, a think tank of seasoned security professionals and thought leaders with extensive experience in managing the physical security and risks of large enterprises consisting of multiple sites and whose mission is to create a better process to develop and share innovative solutions and pertinent information with organizations to improve safety and security risk by providing a forum to discuss best practices and recommendations for specific risk scenarios and to network with other enterprise security professionals.