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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Connect the Dots, Prevention

2017 predictions for Information Security and Cyberattacks. People are and will continue to be the Weakest Link! Because most organizations only provide annual information security training and because most deliver the awareness training for the wrong reasons (one or more state/federal compliance requirements), they are not really addressing their weakest link – People’s lack of ongoing awareness. Annual compliance training efforts are not actually addressing the weakest link because people cannot, and do not remember a training session for the next 364 days. If people think the awareness training is just for compliance, they will continue to just get through it and not pay attentionRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*

Because 99.9% of people prefer PREVENTING over REACTING/RESPONDING to incidents, attacks, lawsuits, and tragedies. Dangerous Gap #1 – nearly every organization has invested almost 100% of Safety/Security budget in: First Responders (Security personnel, Emergency Personnel, etc.) Re-Active Shooter Drills (good drill for First Responders) Security Products Reacting to an attack (Alarms, Mass Notification, Signage, etc.) Security Cameras Reacting and “recording” the attack for forensics Emergency Response Plans Business Continuity Plans PR / Communications Responses Dangerous Gap #2 – What you focus on becomes your reality! What you focus on becomes your reality and therefore, most every organization is failing at PREVENTING because they are notRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Connect the Dots, First Preventer, Prevention

Numerous surveys reveal: 99.9% of people WANT a shooter to be prevented from arriving at their organization rather than responding to a shooter at their organization. 99.9% of people WANT a terrorist to be prevented from attacking their organization rather than responding to a terrorist attack at their organization. Evidence-based data and lessons learned reveal: Hundreds and hundreds of acts of violence were preventable, but failed to be prevented. More research from the “The Final Report and Findings of the Safe School Initiative” by the Secret Service found in over 80% of the shootings, other people knew about the attack before it took place. TheRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Connect the Dots, Health Care, Incident Reporting, Risk Management, Workplace Violence

The motto of Healthcare Security and Safety Week 2016 is “Your Security is our Success” and Awareity would like to help you improve Security and Safety all 52 weeks of the year! There are significant differences between Security and Safety, Safety is focused on Preventing (First Preventers) while Security is focused on Defending and Responding (First Responders). The differences are validated in hundreds of post-event reports that also reveal common gaps, silos and disconnects… as well as reveal something else… most incidents and tragedies were PREVENTABLE. Focusing on First Preventers Currently almost everyone relies on Security and Law Enforcement Officers to stop violence, but SecurityRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Connect the Dots, First Preventer, First Responder, Prevention

Burlington/Seattle. New York. New Jersey. Minnesota. Orlando. San Bernardino. Chicago… and on and on. How do communities, states, and nations stop mounting violence? It requires leadership across organizations, communities, states, and nations to actually make changes. Leaders from all levels of government (and organizations too) have been “talking about preventing violence” and “talking about changes” for years, but in reality people are creatures of habit and rarely change until the pains get so bad they have to go from talking about changes to making changes. How much more pain will you and your community allow and endure before you start making changes? What Changes NeedRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Campus Safety, Connect the Dots, Education, Legal, Legal Precedent, Prevention, School Safety

Attention: All Higher Education Chancellors, Presidents, Boards, Regents, Vice Presidents, etc. this court decision may be have just set a very important precedent for all Higher Education institutions when it comes to Preventing violence. Tyrell K. Okoro, 23, was awarded $823,869 for non-economic damages and $76,131 for medical expenses by a Baltimore jury on Sept. 7. Okoro’s complaint argued that, the university and its police officers “should have known that its failure to properly address violent crime on its campus had created an environment that would subject its students, including Okoro, to an unreasonable risk that they would become the victim of violent crime.” Okoro’sRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Campus Safety, Connect the Dots, Education, School Safety

This question was the topic of Awareity’s latest Higher Education webinar in August 2016 and part of an ongoing series of webinars focused on mounting challenges in Higher Education. The evidence is alarming and overwhelmingly clear that: Sex assaults are happening on every campus People know about the sexual assaults Lives are being ruined and lost have been lost Reputations of institutions are being seriously damaged Reputations of Administrators are being seriously damaged Lawsuits are expensive and coming from victims and perpetrators Bottom lines are taking BIG hits Federal investigations are targeting 225+ institutions Why are 225+ Higher Education institutions under federal investigations? The evidenceRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Connect the Dots, First Preventer, First Responder, Prevention

Fifteen years after 9-11-2001 we still honor all First Responders for their responses and we remember the tragic losses of 265 people on four planes, 2,606 people in the World Trade Center and 125 people at the Pentagon…and we honor the losses to their family and loved ones too. Fifteen years later, we have learned there are tens of thousands of people who responded and worked at ground zero who are now coping with long-term health effects including physical ailments and complications from mental health issues like post-traumatic stress disorders. We also learn about the ongoing suffering and struggles of the health effects have onRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Campus Safety, Connect the Dots, Education, Emergency Management, Financial, Government, Health Care, Human Resources, Incident Reporting, indicators, Legal, Prevention, Risk Management, School Safety, Workplace Violence

Give us 5 minutes… …and you’ll see why YOU need a proven “Connecting the Dots Platform” for your organization, because no one wants a preventable incident on their resume or conscience. Want to get notified as soon as we post helpful information like this? Subscribe to our blog in the right sidebar!Read More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Campus Safety, Education, Health Care, Prevention, School Safety

There are so many “Awareness Days” and “Awareness Months” throughout the year that sometimes I wonder if the “real definitions” and “real issues” are overlooked. Take for example “Campus Safety Awareness Month”, you will no doubt see a lot of campaigns (e-mails, posters, Twitter posts, Facebook posts, and other Social Media posts), but most campaigns will actually miss the real definition and real issues of campus safety and safety awareness. The definition of safety is: state of being safe; freedom from the occurrence or risk of injury, danger, loss… which means preventing the occurrence of risk or threat…not reacting to or hiding from the riskRead More →