The risks organizations face today are more complex than ever, which makes relying on reactive security measures a dangerous gamble.
However, a proactive approach – one that integrates risk intelligence across the organization – can give security teams the edge needed to stay ahead in an evolving risk landscape. Such intelligence-led security has become essential, helping organizations identify and mitigate threats and manage risks proactively.
In this blog, I’ll share how to integrate risk intelligence more effectively into your operations. These insights can help you shift from traditional threat intelligence to a more comprehensive risk intelligence framework that not only identifies threats and the vulnerabilities they exploit, but also addresses the broader business impact.
Adapting to a dynamic global threat landscape
The traditional security challenges of crime, disorder, and terrorism have evolved. Today, security teams are tasked with mitigating what I consider "new standard" threats, such as environmental hazards, health crises like COVID-19, and geopolitics. These are not isolated to specific regions or industries; they form part of a global risk landscape that organizations must be prepared to navigate at all times.
One of the most significant challenges is the convergence of physical and cybersecurity threats. In other words, what happens in cyberspace can impact the real world, and vice versa.
A ransomware attack or a physical protest threat targeting an organization’s assets poses the risk of substantial business disruption, in addition to brand, reputation, and supply chain risks. Because of this, organizations increasingly need intelligence that identifies these threats and details how they may affect their operations, assets, and people.
Moving from threat intelligence to risk intelligence
While many organizations focus on understanding external threats, assessing how these threats become risks is critical. Threats don’t automatically become risks. You need to analyze how threats interact with assets – combining this with how they exploit vulnerabilities – then assess the overall risk of this to properly understand their potential impact on the business.
Breaking this down into its operational components: Threat intelligence proactively identifies and analyzes the hazards we need to safeguard against. Protective intelligence focuses on safeguarding assets such as people, operations, reputation, and their associated vulnerabilities.
Risk intelligence makes threat and protective intelligence a business issue by assessing how the interaction of threats, assets, and vulnerabilities affects the organization as a whole – not just from a security perspective. By integrating risk intelligence (a combination of threat and protective intelligence), organizations can better understand how risks affect operations, brand reputation, compliance, and supply chains. This comprehensive approach not only helps protect physical assets and reputation but can also enhance overall business resilience.
Aligning with business priorities
For intelligence to be truly effective, it must be relevant to decision-makers across the organization. Different departments – from human resources and legal to finance and marketing – prioritize risks based on their specific concerns. For instance, while security teams may focus on physical threats, HR may prioritize employee safety, and legal teams might prioritize compliance and liability. By framing security issues in ways that align with each department’s goals, intelligence can support broader business strategies and foster cross-functional collaboration.
In addition, during challenging economic times, it becomes essential to demonstrate the return on investment of a security function by incorporating risk intelligence. By preventing costly disruptions and safeguarding reputation, organizations can better justify their investments in comprehensive intelligence strategies.
One particularly compelling use case highlights how a client leveraged Securitas’ risk intelligence to avoid significant operational disruptions. In recent years, the client faced escalating criminal activity and sabotage threats that posed a serious risk to their business. By monitoring the threat actors’ activities through threat intelligence and using our protective and risk intelligence services to assess how the protests could impact specific assets, the organization was able to proactively adjust its security posture. As a result, they avoided nearly 300 MSEK in disruptions over the course of a year.
This example (and others) demonstrates the impact of integrating intelligence into both daily operations and long-term strategy. When implemented effectively, intelligence-led security helps organizations mitigate risks and ensure business continuity. And by harnessing risk intelligence, companies can turn potential threats into strategic opportunities.
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