In Episode 4 of the IFSEC Global Security in Focus podcast, James Willison & Sarb Sembhi discuss the concept of converged security and why uniting physical and cyber operations is more important than ever.
Both guests for the episode are consultants to the IFSEC International Converged Security Centre, and the discussion touches upon a clarification of what we mean by ‘converged security’, how an operation works in practice, and the benefits of a more collaborative approach. We also explore the duo’s involvement in the IoT Security Foundation. CCTV, access control and alarm devices are increasingly connected to the internet and third party applications and software, so Sarb and James explain where physical security professionals can start understanding IoT risks and how to mitigate them.
James Willison is a recognised international leader in Security Convergence and Enterprise Security Risk Management. James is Co-Chair, Smart Buildings Working Group, Internet of Things Security Foundation. He is a project manager of the IFSEC Converged Security Centre and was a member of the ASIS/ISC (2) Security Awareness Standard working group and is a member of the ASIS ESRM Steering Committee. James was awarded the Imbert Prize for an ‘outstanding contribution to the Security Industry in 2011’ for his work on convergence with ASIS Europe and the Information Security Awareness Forum. He has more than 20 years’ of management experience in the physical and information security industry.
Sarb Sembhi is CISO at AirEye, and a regular contributor to IFSEC Global, covering cyber/physical security issues, and vlogs about cyber security for SMBs and the security of Smart Built Environments. Together with James, he is proud to have developed and facilitated the Converged Security Centre for the IFSEC event for several years. He is the Co-Chair of the IoT Security Foundation’s Smart Building Group and Executive Steering Board member, where he has jointly overseen the production of guidance for environment owner/occupiers, manufacturers, facilities staff and installers and integrators.
