DailyPost 3035
GLASS HOUSE SECURITY
In all probability you would not have encountered this word / term / phrase even in your life. This proclamation includes the police and all other types of security agencies. This is the nature of security is what we generally practice on a regular basis, at places which are high profile, vulnerable or even both. We also practice this when a law and order crisis starts limping back to supremacy, that is when the situation flares up again. What then is Glass House Security? This is a security state, it is when on the face of it a building, campus, organisation or area looks impregnable, but if the threat actors want to breach for whatever reasons, they are able to do it, pretty easily.
So in reality it remains vulnerable like a glass house. This is not to deny that there are enterprises, organisations, buildings and areas that are exceptions to this rule and have successfully proven it for decades. All the elements of security are put in place; the personnel, barricades, physical structures, CCTV, the shift timings, supervisors etc., all visible to the naked eye and presumed to be in place. Large number of places you would have private security agencies, which outnumber the police in totality, and created as per the statute, they have to be trained for the purpose. This includes security staff of a variety of agencies, directly employed by different organisations as per their need. The less said about these security personnel the better.
Then you have the all pervasive CCTVs, numbers running in lakhs to take care of public and private places hawk eyed. In many states the Acts passed in this regard mandate the private enterprises to install CCTV cameras as parameters laid down. Then you find under vehicle inspection mirrors, and the list can go on. In many places there Security SOPs are also operational. Then what is missing? First and foremost is the understanding of security and purpose for which the security regimen has been put in place. Second is the specific security requirements of the organisation or the building. Thirdly, it would be extremely rare if not impossible to find a peacetime organisation / building / campus or enterprise which knows and understands threat perception, reviews it regularly and accordingly makes changes to its security regimen.
Next, there is no ownership. Most of the time you will not know who is security incharge. Incharge means a professional who knows his job and has the capability to deliver it. The private security agencies have contributed in a big way to the Glass House Security and so have the CCTV cameras. Have you heard of security lapses in enterprises / buildings etc till the time something big happens, and then everything is found to be creaking? Have you found any security expert helping these places in their requirements or a third party security entity; government and otherwise validating it at regular intervals. Security for most part of our existence is a private affair. Between the private security agency and the CCTV vendors, India rocks in its own brand of security; Glass House Security. Have you ever heard of a security element as basic as video footage audit, or dynamic and real time alerts.
WE LIVE IN A MAN MADE INSECURE ENVIRONMENT, THAT IS WHAT IS GLASS HOUSE SECURITY STATE TO BE PRECISE.
Sanjay Sahay