How to be Successful in Corporate Security Management

By Scott McHugh

If you aspire to lead the development of physical and/or cyber security programs to protect the nation's critical infrastructure after serving in law enforcement, intelligence, or the military, then you first need to learn the language, operations, financial decision-making, supply chain, and customer service needs of industry (e.g. Chemical, Health Care, Energy, Transportation). 

​You’ll then be able to blend your government-acquired homeland security skills with your business knowledge to create strategies for protecting critical infrastructure, people, and assets, while also being a value-added contributor to achieving essential business objectives.  

Those who don't recognize that corporate security’s purpose is to apply security management to overcome business risks while simultaneously enabling the organizations to meet its effectiveness, efficiency, and reputational goals, will have a less than satisfying corporate career. 

Protecting critical infrastructure from 21st-century risks has become increasingly difficult and complex as threats converge and manifest in unexpected ways. Nevertheless, CEOs still expect their CSOs and CISOs to create effective risk-based security management that protects the critical infrastructure organization and quantifiably supports the organization's goals and objectives. But, to make matters worse, CEOs frequently expect a bifurcated level of performance even when there is a shortage of those who are skilled business executives as well as homeland security practitioners. 

Fortunately, there is a solution.  Sam Houston State University's Institute for Homeland Security (SHSU-IHS) has been created to meet the immediate professional development training and applied research needs of critical infrastructure organizations. 

To that end, SHSU-IHS has been conducting surveys and focus groups with critical infrastructure thought leaders to ascertain industries' immediate training and research needs and what training programs would have the most significant positive impact on protecting critical infrastructure from 21st-century risk while also being a valued contributor to the business. 

Based on industries’ input, SHSU-IHS has created a professional certificate program that includes the following topics: 

1. Blending Physical and Cyber Security Operations within Critical Infrastructure 

2. Preventing being Targeted for Economic Espionage or Theft of Intellectual Property  

3. The Risk that Matters: Effective Management of the "Insider Threat"  

4. Pros and Cons of Security Drones and Security Robots for ISRC2 at Critical Infrastructure 

5. Having a Successful Career Protecting Critical Infrastructure after Government / Military service, or, as a New Homeland Security Professional 

6. Using the Crisis Management and Resilience Process as a Strategic Tool for Protecting Critical Infrastructure Operations 

7. How to Integrate Process Safety with Security Management as a DHS Approved Security Risk Counter-measure 

This training certificate provides practitioners responsible for protecting critical infrastructure with skills and knowledge that can be immediately utilized to enhance security risk management operations, meet compliance requirements, AND be a value-added tool for achieving business objectives! 

Successfully complete any 5 of the 7 courses to earn a “Protecting Critical Infrastructure” Certificate from Sam Houston State University that confirms knowledge of innovative, proactive, value-added strategies to effectively protect critical infrastructure!