What is operational security?

Operational security is a far-reaching sector in 2021. In the modern world, organisations must be aware of a wide array of threats as ever-evolving technologies facilitate new ways in which people might seek to capitalise on security vulnerabilities.


A particular concern for companies in the digital age is corporate espionage. There are many successful instances of corporate espionage every year which can result in intellectual property being sold to other companies or ransomed back to the organisation on the receiving end of an attack. Either way, businesses can stand to lose large sums of money.

It is therefore important that your employees are educated of the threat corporate espionage can pose as well as the techniques used to carry it out. Social media is omnipresent in our lives and attackers might often seek to utilise it as a way of initiating contact with employees or to gather information about people in the business. As such, it is essential to educate your employees regarding the risks and best practices of using social networking sites, such as how to verify the identity of profiles they connect with, signs of information gathering as well as the ‘dos and don’ts’ when it comes to posting on social media.

Corporate espionage can also manifest as a physical threat and take place right under our noses. If a person has access to any computers or facilities at any of your business’s physical sites, it’s highly likely they can extract sensitive data. Businesses should track and supervise their guests as much as reasonably possible while limiting their access to any potentially sensitive information.


The digital age has brought a swathe of new potential security risks, but pre-existing threats remain. The need for operational security at large-scale events, involving high-profile individuals or significant numbers of people, cannot be overstated.

This involves far more than having security guards dotted in and around the perimeter of your event. The growth of advanced technology can be used in conjunction with your security team to limit the risk of multiple event-security threats such as injury to guests, damage to property, troublesome guests and crowd control as well as physically violent and cyber-attacks. The latter of these are likely to involve a greater deal of sophistication – and therefore planned significantly in advance of the event – meaning that a thorough, coordinated approach to security is required from the planning stages right through to the event itself.

As such, the effectiveness of large-scale event security is multi-faceted, but there is a more simplistic fact that should not be overlooked and that is the visibility of security. Highly sophisticated attacks are likely to be attempted irrespective of the security measures in place. However, these measures will act as a deterrent for any opportunists targeting your event.


Many organisations have likely been targets but not all will have suffered a security breach.

For those that have been breached, it is essential to understand how and why there was a breach in order to prevent similar incidents from happening in future. Conversely, organisations that have suffered at the hands of a security breach should not rest on their laurels. Security risks are constantly evolving and businesses should be regularly testing their security measures in order to identify potential vulnerabilities. This allows for any weaknesses to be promptly overcome and reduce the chance of your activities being compromised.

If you’d like to find out more about operational security and how Rose Partners can help your organisation implement it, get in touch with a member of the team today.