A new, independent professional initiative has been launched to serve as a think tank and knowledge-sharing hub for professionals and decision-makers in various security disciplines.
The organisation, Security Masters Society, is spearheaded by Desmond Keown, Director of consultancy Keown and Associates and a Certified Protection Professional (CPP) with over 30 years of experience.
Keown says the new Security Masters Society will serve as an independent professional initiative focused on elevating security from a reactive function to a structured, science-led discipline.
“At a time when organisations across South Africa face increasingly complex and evolving threats, the society aims to bring clarity, consistency and strategic thinking to how security is understood and implemented,” he says.
He believes there has long been a gap in the market for an initiative that helps practitioners and decision-makers better understand risk in order to enhance security – whether it be physical or cyber security.
Keown says: “A risk and a threat are not the same things. It is important to understand risk in the correct context, because this will direct your security deployment and the controls you put in place. A trend I saw surfacing repeatedly over the years was that the terms risk and risk assessments are too loosely applied or interpreted. The Security Masters Society will address gaps in understanding, highlighting that organisations cannot design effective controls without first understanding risk. This includes defining threat landscapes, identifying appropriate controls and determining risk appetite – all of which should form the starting point of any security framework.”
He says the new organisation operates at the intersection of education, professional development and structured security thinking, working across all spheres of security, including corporate, mining, industrial, commercial, aviation, hospitality, gaming and residential estate environments, among others. Its core mission is to educate both current and future security professionals on the fundamentals of risk – an area that remains widely misunderstood despite being central to any effective security strategy.
It will guide organisations towards relevant standards, norms, white papers and governance frameworks that should inform their security strategies, ensuring alignment with both local and global best practices.
The Security Masters Society activities will include online awareness and knowledge sharing sessions, training modules and thought leadership articles.
Keown says: “We are hoping to attract a strong cohort of like-minded professionals to participate in this endeavour, to lead certain verticals and disciplines such as physical security, cyber security and information security to help educate the market. We want to make a meaningful contribution in terms of what we know to help other people come to think about risk the same way that we do when we apply ourselves in the security domain.”
Security Masters Society invites like-minded professionals to engage as founding members, contributors and ambassadors, contributing to a more informed, collaborative and forward-thinking security community in South Africa. For more information, visit www.securitymastersociety.com.
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