Best Pieces of Security Content in 2020

Having previously selected the top 12 stories and developments in security in 2020, then a baker’s dozen of the best security content series, I’ve now moved on to the top individual pieces of security content. The usual disclaimers apply. There are likely mountains of content I never saw, this is purely my opinion, and I may well have forgotten items from earlier in the year. Let’s go, anyway.

12. Best blog post: “Human & Organizational Mobility in a Post-Covid-19 World,” tofflerassociates.com, by Masseh Tahiry. Masseh is a go-to source on futures analysis, and he puts his skills to work here with an exercise imagining that no Covid vaccine is widely available by the end of 2021. Great stuff. Also check out his 2019 piece on the “convergence of frontier technology” such as artificial intelligence and robotics “with the notion of truth erosion.” It’s Hobbes, Hume, heuristics, and homeland security.

11. Best How-to Article: “The Realities of Launching A Security Startup,” Security Management, December 2020, by Suzanna Alsayed. An honest, vulnerable, and eminently useful guide to the many aspects of starting your own security business in the Information Age.

10. Most Interesting Case Study: “Securing the Lost City,” Security Management, November 2020, by Herbert Calderon. I’m a sucker for Machu Picchu. This article conjures up the majesty of that ancient mountain city and the challenges of keeping environmental disasters and vandals at bay with drones, security apps, and a control center.

9. Most Timely Report: THE QANON CONSPIR,ACY: Destroying Families, Dividing Communities, Undermining Democracy, the Network Contagion Research Institute, December 15, 2020, by Alex Goldenberg, Congressman Denver Riggleman, Jason Baumgartner, Lea Marchl, Alexander Reid-Ross, Joel Finkelstein, et. al. NCRI has released several excellent reports in a short period of time, covering antisemitism, memetic warfare, network-enabled anarchy, etc. But the QAnon paper shows how easy it is for “normal” people to get sucked into a toxic rabbit hole.

8. Best Web-Based Discussion: Returning to Campus During a Pandemic, Campus Safety Magazine, September 2020. New Mexico State University Police Chief Stephen Lopez led a superb discussion on how universities might safely open for the fall 2020 semester, using NMSU’s experiences as an example. It was clear, detailed, and actionable…..but unfortunately, I don’t think it was recorded.

7. Best Podcast Episode: “The Chip on My Shoulder,” The Generalist, Ilya Umanskiy, Sept. 16, 2020. Ilya, always one to speak truth to power, rues the lack of a security career path, questionable certifications, unclear curricula, problems with integrity, lack of licensure, and more. It’s not just grievances, but suggestions for improvement as well.

6. Best Study Reference: The ASIS Certified Protection Professional (CPP®) Study Manual. A team at ASIS, led by Aivelis Opicka (and including Jan McCool and Patty Fusaro), took on the Herculean task of lassoing about 10 volumes of sometimes-unwieldy POA content into a useful study resource. They nailed it.

5. Best Sector-By-Sector-Overview: The 2020 Security 500 Report, Security Magazine. I look forward to this every year, and it keeps improving. It’s a fantastic overview of corporate security trends, departments, and leaders, broken down and ranked by sector. It’s a gold mine just for the data alone.

4. Best “Most Influential”: Okay, I’m copping out here. But I enjoy Security Magazine’s Most Influential People in Security as well as IFSEC International’s Global Influencers in Security & Fire. I always learn about practitioners who have achieved outstanding things.

3. Best Editorial Column: “Driving the Leadership Zamboni,” Security, August 2020. This is the only occasion in which I picked one of my own stories. But I particularly enjoyed writing it because my role as a hockey captain led me to some harsh realizations in professional leadership.

2. Best Vendor Webinar: I’m getting pretty technical here, but How to Understand LIDAR Performance: What All the Specs Mean, How They’re Measured, and Why They Matter, Ouster, May 21, 2020. Excellent overview. Would have loved to have seen this before I wrote a feature on LIDAR trends.

1. Best Article By and For Frontline Staff: “Building Influence. A Matter of Expanding Horizons,” The Professional Security Officer, May 2020, by Cúchulainn Morrissey. We see articles on conveying the value of security from the executive perspective all the time. This article offers deft insight into the view from the front lines and the importance of collaboration, trust, and self-development.