My name is Peter Pitorri and this is my first blog. I plan to write about things like employment with the U.S. Government, getting a clearance, how the Feds conduct background investigations (called background checks in private industry) how private companies conduct them. As well, I will be sharing information about security management and how to do a risk assessment or risk analysis — you want to do this before you spend money on protection!

     Most folks would like to verify credentials of a person who professes to have in-depth knowledge about given topics. (For example, What did the NSA do to Americans under the Bush administration that the Soviets did to Americans during the Cold War?) If you want to find out more about me, you could do it several ways: Go to my business web site http://www.pitorriassociates.com; put peter pitorri into Google; or just Google pitorri associates.

     Let me talk with you first about physical security. A dear friend of mine had a job with a place that sold “electronic security” stuff. That would have been a great place to start a career in physical security; however, she questioned how the one related to the other. Too bad the people she worked for failed to help her make the connection; that makes them hardware hustlers, not security specialists. Here is what I mean:
    

     As soon as you begin to consider buying or leasing alarm systems — or any kind of protection, consider the following algorithm:
          1. Evaluate your Assets (If you do not know what you are protecting, and what it is worth, how would you recognize the most cost-effective protection?)
          2. Analyze the Threat (If there is none, then you do not need protection!)
          3. Evaluate Vulnerabilities (Each Asset must be correlated with a threat and all the vulnerabilities to that threat.)
          4. Conduct a Benefit/Cost analysis. (How much protection do you really need, what kind, and at what price? Here is where you examine the Level of Acceptable Risk, just like our insurance companies do.)
          5. Recommend Improvement Options (These would be the Big Fix to your protection; but now you have Protection With a Purpose. The best system for your goals.)

     Security consists of interrelated barriers. Perhaps a fence (to keep out kids, animals, and people who cannot climb); a microwave radar detection system inside the fence; outdoor lighting; dogs, guards, a moat, crocodiles….you get the idea.

     Or maybe you just need to turn on your outside lights at night, and use those great locks that you installed!
regards
Peter