“In elections past, the integrity of the vote was protected by poll workers and election officials. But in 2018 and likely beyond, elections are being protected by people like the anonymous man who works in the basement of the West Virginia Capitol,” writes Dave Mistich in their recent NPR article entitled “States Turn To National Guard To Help Protect Future Elections From Hackers.”
“He's member of the West Virginia National Guard who is a cybersecurity specialist responsible for monitoring any computer-related threats to the state's elections. Since August of last year, he's been attached full time to the office of Secretary of State Mac Warner,” Mistich continues.
According to the NPR article, “After Russian-backed hackers probed election-related systems in at least 21 states in 2016, election officials, whose focus has traditionally been on making sure that polling places run smoothly and that results are speedily reported, now have to focus on protecting their computer systems.”
Mistich continues that “oftentimes lacking those resources in-house, National Guard specialists have been called in to monitor vital election systems in a handful of additional states, including Colorado, Ohio and South Carolina.”
“Neither the West Virginia National Guard nor Warner's office would permit the soldier to speak on the record, but Warner emphasized how crucial the role is,” Mistich explains.
"We, just like every other government entity and people in business, are getting pinged all the time. Somebody is checking to see are there any open doors [or] open windows for targets of opportunity," Warner said in Mistich’s piece.
How does the thought of having to react to intrusion attempts make you feel?
Overwhelmed?
Anxious?
We understand that these measures might be necessary for the circumstances. National elections are critical to the future of a country.
But, this article offers a different lesson for your operation today.
It stems from a gut feeling we got while reading this article.
Any idea what it might be?
While the introduction of the National Guard might be a useful strategy for states to counter Russian-backed hackers, it is a reaction to the possibility of future cybersecurity incidents.
We get it; what’s done is done. And now it’s time to prepare.
But, we’d like you to take a different approach starting today.
We’re talking about a proactive one.
Are you interested in enhancing your operation?
We don’t want you to react to conditions.
You’ve got to ready yourself for all potential threats before they try to infiltrate your property’s operation.
You need to create an environment where your operation and all personnel work continuously to not only thwart threats but create memories.
See, the lesson here is to avoid the need to react or for a “National Guard” response to problems.
Run an operation that operates at the highest level of performance day after day. That way prevention becomes a regular way of life.
How does that sound?
Now, you’ve got to employ Proactive Operations.
You want to avoid the need to bring in the National Guard, right?
Then let’s consider the risk implications of having threats or offenders commit any sort of wrongdoing on your property.
What would be the effect?
You probably don’t want to think about. Do you?
But, that’s what you’re doing wrong then – that’s the problem.
You must think about all of it.
That’s an essential aspect of your first pillar of Proactive Operations, your Strategy.
Don’t avoid your weaknesses or the holes in your operation.
Recognize, accept, and face them, so you don’t need to react to them later. Trust us when we say the hard work now to prepare is worth it in the end.
Get each pillar in place to support your operation’s ability to fight threats.
Leverage them to reduce the impact of risk on your property and the people you need to keep safe and help create lasting memories.
Doing this also ensures the longevity of your operation.
Now, how does that sound?
We’ve made the need for Proactive Operations unquestionable today. Reacting to imposing threats is not viable, and certainly not how you should run your operation.
You’ve got to jumpstart your initiative to counter threats while creating a safe environment. Stop running things the way they are now. The importance of being proactive is too evident to avoid.
So, are you ready to set your operation up to be proactive?