Security Concepts
Security Concepts is the foundation domain: the exam checks whether you can define a threat, a hazard and a risk, name the layers of defence, and explain why a private security guard detects and reports rather than investigates.
Core ideas
- Security is protection of people, property, information and reputation against deliberate harm; safety is protection against accidental harm.
- The CIA triad - confidentiality, integrity, availability - is used for information assets.
- Threat = a person or event with intent and capability. Vulnerability = a weakness that can be exploited. Risk = threat × vulnerability × impact. Risk falls if any one factor is removed.
- Defence in depth: perimeter → building shell → internal zones → high-security area. Every layer must deter, detect, delay and respond.
- Security cycle: survey → plan → implement → monitor → review.
- The guard's role is preventive and observational: deter by presence, detect by patrolling, report to the control room or police. A guard has no power to investigate, interrogate or punish.
Worked example
A retail store's rear door is found propped open at night. Which factor in risk = threat × vulnerability × impact has changed, and what is the cheapest fix? Reasoning: a propped door does not increase the threat or the impact; it increases vulnerability. The cheapest, fastest fix is procedural - close and lock the door, fit a door alarm, and add the door to the patrol check sheet. Posting a guard there costs far more and still does not guarantee detection.
Traps that cost marks
- Writing 'risk = threat + vulnerability'. It is a product, not a sum.
- Claiming a guard may arrest on suspicion, search a woman, or use force to recover property.
- Mixing up security (deliberate harm) with safety (accidents) in definitions.