In a post-pandemic world, demand for physical security is spiking, but that isn’t all that’s changing in 2022. We’re starting to see physical security trends emerge, including some new avenues for physical security teams outside of their traditional remits.
- Greater guarded responsibilities
- Increased physical security budgets
- Spiked demand for venue security
- Better understanding of security risks
- Closer relationships with cyber security departments
Greater guard responsibilities
As we see in other instances, such as in technology, convergence is creeping into security practice, calling for greater guard responsibilities.
Aside from their physical security duties, guards will now be expected to provide front-of-house services, signposting and greeting guests, ultimately becoming a more approachable asset to an organisation to steer away from the stereotypical, intimidating guard persona. This allows guards to be more covert and attempts to ease the worries of shoppers, visitors and clients in the post-pandemic world.
Increased physical security budgets
Security spending is set to rise in 2022 as we begin to recover from the economic downturn and its impact on physical security. With 35% of CEOs concerned over reduced physical security headcount due to the economy, it’s time to create more jobs in this sector and ensure premises are sufficiently secured.
Increased physical security budgets will mean more security guards patrolling premises that have reopened and engaging in casual physical security work in the events sector.
Spiked demand for venue security
Venue security will perhaps see the most investment out of all physical security functions as events begin to take place across the country.
All the same responsibilities apply to venue security; crowd control, gate security and spotting anomalous behaviour. But now, security guards may also help the admission process, including checking COVID passports and managing venue capacity to not exceed the guidelines for large groups.
Better understanding of security risks
As each year passes, we become more and more knowledgeable about security breaches and why they happen. Knowing that 88% of security breaches are a result of human error, with the same study revealing 50% of the workforce are ‘pretty’ certain they’ve made an error that could lead to a security issue, we’re starting to see the other intangible benefits of having a physical security presence.
Physical security guards don’t only deter external threats, but they also act as a gentle reminder for internal employees to think more frequently about security and its risks to employee data.
Closer relationships with cyber security departments
Following the theme of convergence, security departments, as a whole, may undergo some change, with cyber security and physical security linking in some scenarios.
Through frameworks like a hybrid development model, cyber security will benefit from physical security services. As cyber security becomes a growing problem for organisations, using physical security guards to safeguard data, servers and networks is just one way that data breach protection can benefit from physical security.
Of course, engaging in any of these trends means upping your security budget so you can take advantage of research, development and deployment of physical security.
Thinking about security spend for 2022? Talk to our team first
If you’re thinking of setting aside more room for security spending in 2022, work out where you should spend it by thinking about the opportunity to outsource security responsibilities.
At Kingdom Security, we're experts in physical security from patrols to manned guarding, giving you peace of mind that your premises are accounted for, without anyone in your organisation even needing to lift a finger. Talk to us to see if we fit into your security strategy and ask for a free, bespoke quote.
