How to Create a Proactive Security Approach for High-Profile Events
High-profile events like the Olympics are cultural milestones that cross generations and connect demographics. With billions watching worldwide and millions attending in person, the excitement and energy is high. Equally high are the risks to organizations based in and around that city, those sending executives and VIPs to the event, and brand sponsors. All must keep their people, assets, and operations safe from the risks that come along with large-scale events.
There is A LOT at stake for organizations involved in, attending, or working near high-profile events like the Olympics, World Cup, Fashion Week, or Oktoberfest. From ensuring the safety of executives, customers, or team members who attend the events to maintaining daily operations of facilities and assets in that region to keeping supply chains based in the host city running smoothly and without delays, the number of risk and threat considerations surrounding a large-scale, global event are myriad.
Shifting from a reactive physical security posture to a proactive security posture is the best way to prepare for, and ideally avoid, threats surrounding high-profile events.
An Olympics Use Case for Protecting Your Operations, Assets, and Employees
The upcoming Paris Olympics this Summer serves as a prime example of how organizations impacted by the event can adopt a more proactive approach, ensuring their security, intelligence, and operations teams are equipped with strategies to detect and mitigate potential threats and risks, monitor unfolding events, and have crisis management plans in place to effectively navigate any disruptions.
The List of “Risks to Avoid”
The daunting array of risks confronting security or risk teams preparing for high-profile events like the Olympics is extensive and encompasses various categories, ranging from physical threats to cyber vulnerabilities and health-related concerns. However, advancements in technology offer these teams invaluable tools to anticipate and address these risks effectively.
For instance, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) algorithms, and Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) tools empower security personnel to detect, deter, and respond to threats expeditiously. By leveraging analytical insights and localized context, teams gain an operational edge, enabling them to proactively identify potential disruptions and swiftly respond to emerging issues in real-time.
The risks facing such events can be categorized into several key areas, all of which need to be assessed and proactively monitored.
Security risks encompass the threat of terrorist attacks or violent incidents targeting the Games' site or surrounding areas, as well as the potential for civil unrest or protests near Olympic venues. Additionally, there is potential for increased crime – petty or otherwise – that comes with an increase in tourists and visitors.
Operational risks include challenges in coordinating travel, accommodations, and logistics for participants and guests, as well as the possibility of supply chain disruptions or delays near Olympic venues. Additionally, regulatory and legal compliance issues in the host country pose further operational challenges.
Reputational risks are also significant, with concerns over negative publicity, scandals, or controversies related to the event, potentially leading to brand damage or loss of trust among stakeholders and the public.
Financial risks loom large as well, encompassing increased costs for security measures, insurance, and other event management necessities. There's also the threat of revenue losses due to disruptions, cancellations, or reduced attendance, along with the possibility of financial liabilities or compensation claims in the event of incidents or accidents.
Given the scope of planning ahead of these events, below are four strategies to ensure security teams and the broader organization is ready to navigate just about anything.
Key Strategies to Develop a Comprehensive, Proactive Security Plan for Large-Scale Events
If a global event is being hosted in a city in which your organization is headquartered or does business, your security team should be planning for potential risks and threats. Does your organization have employees, assets, or operations in Paris? Then your people need to proactively establish safety procedures for employees, plot out alternate supply chain distribution routes, and so on.
Creating emergency response plans, identifying travel safety protocols, establishing alternate logistic/supply routes, and monitoring ongoing events is a tall order for any team, particularly those with limited resources. However, proactively assessing and monitoring potential and ongoing risks is a must for every organization impacted by a global event.
The planning process to address risks associated with an event like the Olympics may start years in advance or just a few months depending on your organization’s scope of participation. An interdisciplinary team should be formed to oversee all aspects of Olympics planning and preparedness. From an elevated perspective, this team's responsibilities include:
Creating a detailed operational plan covering all potential impacts and risks.
Strategy One: Big Picture Planning
Forming contingency plans for likely disruption scenarios.
Access to critical data sources, such as foreign influence operations data and open-source intelligence, to provide a comprehensive view of the threat landscape.
Robust data verification processes to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information being used.
Analytical capabilities that can provide additional context, perspective, and guidance specific to the region or event being monitored.
The ability to detect anomalies, incidents, or changes in the security posture of each asset under observation.
Automated alert systems with customizable triggers and thresholds to notify the GSOC of potential security issues promptly.
Building effective coordination across all teams, departments, and key stakeholders.
Establishing clear communication channels and protocols to keep all relevant parties informed and aligned.
Setting up real-time alerts and notifications for key stakeholders and travelers, ensuring everyone has access to the most up-to-date information.
Providing shift teams with access to the same comprehensive reports and information, facilitating seamless handovers, and maintaining situational awareness during shift change.
Assessing resources to ensure adequate coverage.
Strategy Two: Operations Planning
Depending on the industry, the operational ramifications of an event as significant as the Olympics can be profound. Not only do businesses operating in the host regions face logistical challenges such as increased traffic, road closures, and increased security measures disrupting transportation routes, but global flows of goods and services can also be disrupted. To proactively get in front of these potential challenges, security operations teams must undertake several key initiatives:
Mapping supply chains and identifying potential vulnerabilities
Nothing is more important than the safety and security of employees. This includes employees who may have nothing to do with the Olympics themselves but work remotely from the host city, key executives traveling to attend the event, or teams managing the effects of the event either on-site or miles away behind a desk.
Elevated risk levels and the potential for civil unrest, terrorism, and other threats are a reality in today's environment. For an event like the Olympics, which brings people from all over the world with differing political perspectives, religions, and cultures, the variables leading to potential conflict increase. To maintain the safety of your people, teams need:
Strategy Three: People Planning
Ensure security teams have the tools and staff to continuously monitor the security situation and have contingency plans in place to limit travel or evacuate staff if situations deteriorate.
Build watch dashboards and alerts based on specific criteria/triggers around locations or assets as well as data that can advise with evacuation alerts.
Real-time monitoring and contingency plans
Use risk assessments around any pre-travel locations and activities.
Set up alerts to monitor for disruptions like road closures or train delays or around assets like warehouses, shipping facilities, or hotels for potential unrest or other disruptions.
Ensure backup options are in place for critical logistics to maintain business continuity.
Detailed logistical plans for secure transportation, lodging, and work facilities.
Continual reporting throughout the event with details on the current situation.
Beyond individual traveler's assessments, an organization must also conduct a detailed risk audit of all its operations, facilities, personnel, and business flows in the Olympic region. The security team will want to look for potential vulnerabilities to identify gaps to mitigate before the event.
To assess and monitor security issues related to assets like manufacturing plants, distribution hubs, and office locations, the following key steps should be taken:
Prepare teams to conduct a comprehensive inventory and mapping of all critical assets, including physical facilities, IT infrastructure, supply chain elements, and personnel. Be sure to include any temporary locations, such as party venues.
Geospatially map the locations of these assets to understand their distribution and interdependencies across the organization.
Assess historical data to uncover any trends connected to past incidents, protests, or other disruptions near event venues.
Asset Inventory and Mapping
Conduct thorough pre-event and ongoing threat and risk assessments to identify specific threats to each asset, such as terrorism, civil unrest, and other disruptions.
Evaluate the likelihood and potential impact of these threats occurring for each asset.
Prioritize the assets and associated risks. For example, a manufacturing plant 60km from the Olympic host city will likely face lower threats than a company headquarters located right next to an Olympic venue.
For organizations or government entities directly involved in sponsoring or hosting events around the Olympics, special attention should be paid to assessing the risks to those specific venues and surrounding areas.
Pre-event and ongoing threat and risk assessments
Staffing and Resourcing throughout the event
Strategy Four: Assets Planning
Create templated reports that can easily be distributed to key stakeholders on site or impacted by the disruptions sharing details of what is happening in the host city and surrounding airports, hotels, etc.
By focusing on real-time monitoring, secure logistics, and effective communication, organizations can better safeguard their people during a high-profile, high-risk event like the Olympics.
For an event like the Olympics, this involves assessing the stability of the region to pinpoint potential weak points and develop contingency plans for sourcing or logistics. This includes scrutinizing port operations, air/rail/ground cargo flows into the Olympics region, potential work stoppages in manufacturing or sourcing operations, surges in demand for event-related products/materials, competition for transportation and logistics capacity, and any closures of roadways or shipping lanes in Olympics cities.
Establishing monitoring systems to track emerging developments
Setting up filters and alerts to swiftly identify activities that could impact the supply chain, delivery, or transportation routes. This might include everything from assessing subway station closures to monitoring planned protests impacting bus schedules.
Assessing brand monitoring capabilities
Evaluating the ability to monitor positive and negative sentiment, as well as emotional analysis across traditional media and social media.
The level of supply chain monitoring and preparedness should be scaled to the potential risks and impacts for specific businesses and supply chain footprint. But the basics of mapping, risk assessment, monitoring, and contingency planning are crucial across the board for all industries.
Simply put, operations in the host city will undoubtedly be disrupted due to the event. Thankfully, these large-scale events are announced years in advance so your organization' has time to prepare. Instead of waiting for issues to arise, spend time well before the event begins to identify potential challenges and create new routes and contingency plans to keep the negative impact to a minimum.
For the upcoming Olympic games, it is essential to ensure your team has access to reports that assess the political, cyber, operational, maritime, and security landscapes for France as a whole and Paris specifically.
Leveraging pre-configured scenarios from “the most likely” to “outlier” options and building crisis communications and operational plans to support each of the scenarios.
Ensuring the team has the necessary technology and intelligence to adequately monitor risks and threats, including:
Determining if the current team has the bandwidth to continue managing its current daily workload and provide any additional support needed leading up and during the event.
The key to minimizing threats and risks, and ideally avoiding them completely, is to take a comprehensive approach to identifying the many ways an organization could be impacted, and then create a game plan for each scenario.
Assess current staffing for monitoring throughout the event and additional support needed for high-risk or high-impact locations.
Finding a Vendor to Help Accomplish This
Advanced technology in threat and risk analysis significantly enhances security measures at high-profile events by integrating cutting-edge artificial intelligence with open-source intelligence. These technologies meticulously analyze data from numerous sources, including news outlets and social media to detect potential security threats in real-time. By employing machine learning algorithms, such systems can forecast possible disruptions before they occur, offering a predictive edge to security planning. This method enables event organizers and security teams to adopt a proactive security posture, anticipating and mitigating risks rather than merely reacting to them.
Additionally, these platforms often include a layer of human expertise, where experienced analysts verify and interpret the data. This dual approach ensures high accuracy and reliability of the information, enhancing the quality of the threat assessment. During high-profile events, security agencies deploy advanced technologies to monitor vast amounts of data for potential threats. These events represent significant national or international importance, warranting this enhanced level of security.
By integrating AI and human intelligence in security protocols, event organizers and security personnel can significantly enhance the safety and stability of major public events. This technology-driven approach not only helps in efficiently utilizing resources but also in maintaining a secure environment that upholds public confidence and ensures the smooth conduct of significant events.
Strategy Two: Operations Planning
Strategy Three: People Planning
Strategy Four: Assets Planning
Seerist Empowers Tactical and Strategic Decision Making
Aker Security adds faster, real-time data capabilities and the ability to anticipate potential threat events before they unfold.
Read the CASE STUDY
Meticulous Planning is a Must
Previously, identifying threats and implementing effective solutions may have seemed daunting. Advancements in artificial intelligence have revolutionized the threat and risk intelligence process. These tools enable security teams to proactively address potential threats, ensuring that temporary disruptions do not interfere with daily business operations. Furthermore, these innovations allow for real-time detection of issues, enabling swift action to prevent challenges from escalating into crises.
While the Olympics offers unmatched opportunities for brand marketing, customer engagement, and business development, the size and scale of the event also presents considerable risks and the potential for major disruptions. If a large-scale event is coming to a city near you, the time is now to identify the best ways to protect people, assets, and operations.