1. Corporate Security:
An educational framework of
integrated knowledge categories
Dr. David Brooks
Security Research Centre (SECAU)
Edith Cowan University, Australia
2009 ASIS International Security Conference
3-5 February 2009
Hong Kong
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2. Overview
• Understanding security?
• Research questions
• Foundation theories
– Knowledge structure
– Multidimensional scaling
• Study design
• Analysis
• Security science framework
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3. Understanding Security
• What is security?
• Security industry is broad and multi-
disciplined
• Security has many layers
• Current international politics has further
broadened security
• “every time we think we’ve got the
definition of the security field nailed,
somebody … starts taking some of the nails
away” (ASIS International, 2003, p. 10)
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4. • Assured freedom from poverty or want (The Angus & Roberston,
1992)
• A stable, relatively predictable environment where an
individual or group may pursue its ends without
disruption or harm (Fischer & Green 2004, p. 21)
• Provision of private services in the protection of people,
information and assets (Craighead, 2003)
• National security and the defence of a nation, through
armed force or the use of force to control a state’s
citizens (Brooks, 2009)
S = f(A, P, T) Si
where asset (A), protection (P), threat (T)
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5. Importance of Definition
• Career path – compulsory to tertiary
• Direct higher education
• Professional bodies
• Applied research
• Self regulation
• Social understanding
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6. What is Corporate Security?
“security cannot be considered singular in
concept definition, as definition is dependant
on applied context”
(Brooks, 2009, Security Journal)
• Study extracted 2001 security concepts,
integrated some into existing models:
– ASIS Symposium’s
– Attorney-General’s & Australian Standards
• Outcome - framework of “corporate
security”, with conceptualisation
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7. Research Questions
• What are the knowledge categories and
subordinate concepts of security?
• Can a science of security framework be
developed and presented?
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8. Theoretical Foundation
Cognitive psychology:
• Knowledge is not discovered, but utilises &
expands existing concepts (Novak & Gowan, 1983)
• Knowledge structure
• Built on previous knowledge
• Categorisation - economised & abstracted
• Expert – novice understanding
• Study tools:
– Multidimensional Scaling & Linguistic analysis
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9. Multidimensional Scaling
• Multivariate analysis
• Reduces complex data
• Provides dimensional spatial representation
• Elicits underlying dimensions
• Analysis of judgements (Cox & Cox, 2000)
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10. Initial Analysis
• 104 International tertiary security courses
critiqued
• 9 Courses selected for content analysis
& 7 syllabi sourced
• 2001 concepts extraction
• Most common concepts identified using
Linguistic Inquiry & Word Count (Pennebaker, Francis &
Booth, 2001)
• Expert validation (N=5)
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11. Study Methodology
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12. Extracted Security Categories
• Criminology • Physical security
• Contingency planning • Risk management
• Facility management • Security law
• Fire science • Security management
• Industrial security • Technology
• Information &
computer security • Principles
• Investigations • Threats
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13. ASIS Common knowledge categories
of security model
• Security • Fire protection
• Physical security • Information
• Risk management systems security
• Emergency/Contin • Loss prevention
gency Planning • Investigations
• Personnel security (American Society for Industrial
• Legal aspects Security, 2000, p. 87)
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14. Australian Government:
Integrated security standards
framework model
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15. Science of Security Framework
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16. Psychometric MDS mapping
of Security Framework
27 Australian security
experts measured
MDS Stress1=0.222
α=0.992
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17. Science of Security Framework
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18. Concluding Remarks
• Framework of security presented
• Assist in developing a consensual body
of knowledge
• Reversed engineered a definition of
organisational security
• Gained a clear & common understanding?
• Further international research required
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19. Thank you
d.brooks@ecu.edu.au Questions?
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20. References
American Society for Industrial Security. (2000). Proceedings of the 2000 academic/practitioner
symposium, The University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma: American Society for Industrial Security.
ASIS International. (2003). Proceedings of the 2003 academic/practitioner symposium, The
University of Maryland, Maryland: ASIS International.
Bazzina, M. (2006). Security standards and support systems report: A collaborative project
between the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department and Standards Australia. Sydney:
Standards Australia International Ltd.
Brooks, D. J. (2009 in print). What is security: Definition through knowledge categorisation.
Security Journal.
Craighead, G. (2003). High-rise security and fire life safety. (2nd ed.). Woburn, MA: Butterworth-
Heinemann.
Cox, T. F. & Cox, M. A. A. (2000). Multidimensional scaling: Monographs on statistics and applied
probability. London: Chapman & Hall/CRC.
Ferguson, G. (2004, August). Homeland security: Emerging technologies: Policing conference
returns to Adelaide. Australian Defence Magazine, 12(8), 54.
Fischer, R. J. & Green, G. (2004). Introduction to security. (7th ed.). Boston: Butterworth
Heinemann.
Novak, J.D. & Gowin, D. B. (1984). Learning how to learn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pennebaker, J. W., Francis, M. E. & Booth, R. J. (2001). Linguistic inquiry and word count
(LIWC2001). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum Publishers.
The Angus & Roberston. (1992). Dictionary and thesaurus. Sydney: Harper Collins Publishers.
Yates, A. (2004). Australia's homeland security market and industry's role. Canberra: Australian
Homeland Security Research Centre.
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