Discuss the pros and cons of security's role of security in an organization (any type

of organization will do). Based on the following key discussion points, how should
security fit into the scope of a mission, be it war-fighting, profit making, etc?
Specifically discuss the roles and responsibilities of the Security Director or Chief
Security Officer (CSO).

Defining the role of security in any complex organization is a difficult task

because that role can vary from perspective to perspective or as the scope of the
mission itself changes. A prime example of this is how the war-fighting mission
changed from seeking out and destroying terrorism to winning the hearts and
minds of the local population only to change again to nation-building. For any
business, security’s primary roles typically include physical security, personnel
security, intelligence gathering, surveillance & monitoring, defensive measures,
and a business continuity plan in the event of emergencies. (Mulholland, 2021)
While this is not an all-encompassing list of functions, the point is that depending
on the industry a Chief Security Officer finds themselves, the function and role of
what it is that security is can vary greatly.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) outlines specific functions that
a Chief Security Officer is responsible for, the majority of which includes following
federal law, executive orders, providing executive-level security-related guidance,
and policy development. (DHS, 2018) Unfortunately, this still provides a vague
understanding of the actual functions involved in being a chief security officer.
The problem again lies in that the CSO must be a “jack of all trades” so to speak
because they have to at a minimum understand the majority of processes and
procedures that make the business function efficiently. ASIS International (2004),
the “gold-standard” of all things security related, states that the CSO position is
that of a full partner in governing the organization’s infrastructure. This would
mean that the CSO ensures that every department and entity is running as it
should be, is protected to prevent stoppages, and that all physical or non-physical
intellectual property is not subverted or stolen. If there is a Chief Information
Security Officer (CISO), coordination between the two entities is crucial because
there is a great deal of non-physical assets today that need to be secured just as
much as the physical ones. Often times though, a CSO is tasked with ensuring
that proper protocols are in place to protect these non-physical assets as well
because there isn’t a budget for a CISO.
While prevention of critical incidents is the key to a CSO’s success, it is
inevitable that incidents do and will occur. It is then the CSO’s job to run security
assessments of any and all operational functions to determine whether additional
security controls are needed to keep it functioning or whether a reallocation of
security controls is needed because they do not match the need for that
particular asset. Despite assessment and controls, a true test of a CSO is the
ability to prioritize and execute in order to minimize work stoppage, serious or
critical incident impact, in order to provide the best response to these incidents as
they materialize or after they occur. This not only means that the CSO needs to
be able to coordinate with other departments or outside resources, but they have
to be a master at relationship-building as well as leadership so as to be able to
take the lead to initiate an adequate response to an incident. They may not
actually create the business continuity plan in the end, but it would be necessary
for the CSO to have a great deal of input in order to allocate the resources
involved in maintaining critical business functions in a time of crisis.
References:

ASIS International. (2004). Chief Security Officer Guideline [EBook]. Retrieved

September 8, 2021, from
https://d2sghkvizede3b.cloudfront.net/137/268/ASIS Chief Security Officer
Guide-Public.pdf
Mulholland, J. (2021, April 23). The Role of Chief Security Officer is More Vital
than Ever. Retrieved September 7, 2021, from
https://www.govtech.com/security/the-role-of-chief-security-officer-is-
more-vital-than-ever.html
United States, Department of Homeland Security. (2018, May 21). CHIEF
SECURITY OFFICER I. Purpose II. Scope. Retrieved September 8, 2021, from
https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/mgmt/security/
mgmt-dir_121-01-chief-security-officer_revision-02.pdf