In the last 6 months we have seen a steady increase in sport personalities, high-profile individuals and elite families around the world getting into trouble. Either robbed in broad daylight for their expensive cars, watches and designer clothing, had their expensive jewellery taken from inside their property whilst they were away on vacation, and involved in altercations in foreign countries, leading to high profile arrests with reputations placed on the line from allegations of poor behaviour.
All of these scenarios could have been avoided if good risk assessments had been carried out and effective security in place, along with thorough due diligence carried out on those who were allowed to provide services inside the house of a global elite family.
I-OnAsia continues to provide security services, risk assessments and vetting of employees for global families and elite individuals, we recognise the importance of not only understanding a client’s requirement, but going that extra step to give total peace of mind with a rapid response team when needed in Hong Kong, ,New York and London.
Human nature is that we focus on the things that make us happy and allow us to enjoy life. It’s because of this that the idea of security is often not given too much thought, that is until something happens, someone gets hurt or a significant vulnerability is identified which could cause a family, a property or a business to be significantly jeopardised. The world is changing rapidly, threats are ever evolving and although in the main we continue to feel safe; we are all acutely aware of the rise of some of the more televised and regularly spoken about threats to public safety.
How do we measure these risks for our elite families in the private security sector?
Well, commonly the term ‘Risk Management or Risk Assessment’ is the starting point of any demonstration of the existence of personal or corporate risk, its frequency, and likely hood of occurring, its potential outcome on you, your family or maybe corporate infrastructure, and more importantly what can be implemented to prevent it, or satisfactorily reduce it to allow a certain activity, like travel to a higher risk country to continue safely, reducing the risk.
Our global risk management team carry out these risk assessments at I-OnAsia every time we move a client from point a, to point b, from the route they take, the travel arrangements and countries they visit and the activities they’ll be undertaking whilst away.
By doing this, we allow our clients to focus on the important things, of staying happy and enjoying life, but not having to worry about the risks that exist around them, we take this stress on and ensure its managed well, communicating of course any areas we need the clients support to execute a risk management plan to keep them and their family safe and as risk free as possible.
In the last 20 years I have often been asked by elite family clients the following question?
What can I expect from a security assessment on me and my family?
A good security expert is going to want to know what level of security is appropriate for their client, and their circumstances, and to do this, they’ll need a comprehensive picture of all the clients daily activities and routines, so as to be able to build this picture of potential risk.
Quite often the security assessment that we carry out on a principal/client will very quickly include the whole family unit, as they too can be the victim of crime because of their close association and vulnerability to predators. Sadly, for the elite clients we look after, posting on social media, their location, their expensive assets, their time away from the family home can be a real risk and one that persons of ill repute will exploit to their advantage. We provide guidance to our elite clients, their children and close family of how to maintain high levels of ‘online’ digital security, whilst maintaining what is often described as a ‘Social Media Influencer’ status.
The comprehensive risk assessment that is carried out should encompass the home, the work location, the countries of travel (if any), the nature of the work and the position the client holds and their daily decisions and how they might impact others. Any outward facing public exposure and scrutiny they face on a day to day basis from the decisions they make in both their professional and personal lives, all these effect the outcome of a comprehensive risk assessment.
All these questions increase or decrease the level of risk the client and their family may face, and the nature of the security response or ‘bubble’ they require to maintain their safety and happy environment that they enjoy and require, to live a ‘normal’ life.
Our security assessments carried out in Hong Kong and globally in New York and London focus a lot of the time on a client’s property, ‘their castle’ as I like to describe it, its security measures, its vulnerabilities, and how physical and electronic security is used to reduce risk and provide strategies to maintain safety in a worst case scenario. When I-OnAsia look at properties globally no two risk assessments are the same, the demographic of the area, the local crime rates, the size of the property and what surrounds it, the political situation in the country all have an impact on how the risk assessment is compiled and its recommendations implemented.
A good security expert will often refer to the 4 D’s when compiling a thorough risk assessment of a property.
- Deter – Prevent the opportunity.
- Detect – Identify the breach.
- Deny – Prevent access.
- Delay – Slow the breach so as to be able to respond and provide safety.
In Hong Kong, New York and London we continually test ourselves, our teams and our risk assessments by running red team drills, penetration testing of sites to ensure weaknesses are identified and rectified and implement further strategies to overcome issues that are identified. All these require a team that understands the needs and expectations of the client and who can provide a security assessment which is modern, motivated, progressive, and professional.
I-OnAsia proudly continues to provide clients with peace of mind that if the worst was to happen, we have planned for it, trained for it, and will respond with as little disruption to them as possible ensuring business as usual status as soon as possible.
