"Corporate security exists in three different worlds: the realms of cops, geeks and bean counters. Simply getting them to communicate with one another, without a translator, can be difficult," said Tom Cavanagh, the Conference Board's corporate security specialist.
Three departments handle security responsibilities, the Board said. There are physical security forces, which protect people; information technology security personnel, which protect data and communications networks; and risk management executives, who protect company finances.
Managers in these three different company units often do not communicate easily because they have distinctly different backgrounds and differing degrees of authority and prestige in their companies.
The key to improving corporate security is getting all three areas to cooperate to assure that security is an integral part of the company's overall mission, the Board said.
The report points out that security is not only about protecting potential loss. "It is about enabling managers to take advantage of opportunities without assuming undue risk," Cavanagh said.
Copyright 2004 by United Press International
