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Issue link: https://ssn.epubxp.com/i/891322
SSN recognizes its '20 under 40' End User Class of 2017 By Paul Ragusa YARMOUTH, Maine—Security Systems News is excited to introduce and honor its "20 under 40" End User Class of 2017, made up of the next generation of security professionals leading the industry today. E a c h o f t h e s e w i n n e r s s h a re s a passion for what they do, as well as a thirst for knowledge of the industry, new technologies and professional development. A new theme for this year, and one that reflects what is going on in the industry today, is the focus on IT, specifically information security and cybersecurity. " T h e re w a s a l w a y s a s e p a r a t i o n between IT and physical security, but it is important for us to be working together f o r o v e r s i g h t a n d c o l l a b o r a t i o n , " Amanda O'Loughlin, security supervisor for Crane Currency, pointed out. "We can't do it alone and we don't w a n t a n y o n e p e r s o n h a v i n g t o o much power. I already see it with our integrators needing much more knowledge about network security, how to design a network and connect and communicate across different networks," said O'Loughlin. O ' L o u g h l i n s e e s " c o n t i n u e d development in that area of collaboration between physical security and IT" as everyone tries to stay one step ahead of hacking and data breaches, especially with remote and mobile access becoming more prominent in security. With physical and information security merging, many in this year's class pointed to the increasing importance of data, from securing it to mining it for actionable info. Matt Cain, senior investigator – Corporate Security for Verizon, is excited about the potential of predictive analytics and the use of data. "Extracting what you think might be completely irrelevant information, plugging it into a model and eventually seeing a positive ROI can be pretty rewarding," he said. "Unfortunately for our industry, we can sometimes be seen as reactive versus proactive, but this technology can help change that stigma by getting in front of problems and being more forward thinking." Dan Sadler, director – Security Shared Services, Exelon Corp., agrees, noting that there is an opportunity with "big data solutions on both the physical and cyber side that have analytic and real time alerting capability, so you build certain use cases around physical and logical behavior." Dave Harben, enterprise leader of asset protection, Ascena Retail Group, also highlighted analytics—more specifically prescriptive analytics—as an up-and- coming technology, one that will help people to be more efficient. "You can get a lot of data from very different data pools, and you get a lot of information, and it gives you the ability to react very quickly," he said. Jessica Borst, security specialist – financial and data analyst/physical s e c u r i t y s e r v i c e s p ro j e c t m a n a g e r, Ferguson, expects data will be more relevant to security in the future, such as in "continuing to identify areas that we can use data to pinpoint what we need to improve. The information's already out there; it's just a matter of figuring out a way to use that." As end users look for ways to protect both data and physical assets, Brady A. Phelps, physical security supervisor, Grant County Public Utility District, said the need for cybersecurity is heightened and predicts more of an overlap between physical and cyber. "I think that each and every physical security professional is going to have to open up to the idea that they're going to have to be cybersecurity professionals as well." SSN is very happy to recognize every winner in this year's class and will honor all of its "20 under 40" honorees at a special reception during its TechSec Solutions conference, an event focused on new and emerging technologies in the physical security space. TechSec will be held in Delray Beach, Fla., Feb. 26 and 27, 2018. SSN Winners exemplify how the industry is now driven by IT, new tech John Baranski II, 28 Senior physical security specialist, BNY Mellon Pittsburgh A l T hough John Baranski II is the youngest SS n "20 under 40" End u ser Class of 2017 award winner, he has accomplished quite a lot in his career thus far. While earning a degree in criminology, Baranski served in the Army n ational g uard, and did a deployment to Afghanistan his senior year. "I have always had an interest in security and when I got home from my deployment, I wanted to get into security on the corporate side," he explained. "I was fortunate enough to have a lot of good leaders teach me along the way." Baranski started his career as a security supervisor for two years at a hotel in Pittsburgh, "which was more focused on the physical security side," he said, noting that he then worked for four years at h ighmark Inc., a healthcare company based out of Western Pennsylvania. "At h igh Mark, I got involved in all aspects of security, which is where the majority of my experience comes from," he noted. "I did a C-C u RE 9000 upgrade there, a major project that took two years." In his current role, which he has been in for six months, Baranski deals with guard force management, and oversees project management locally while supporting global projects as well. o n the technology side, Baranski said one of the most interesting developments in the industry has been "the interface of access control and CCTV, which I think is going to start becoming more and more common with remote surveillance and mobile access." h e also sees great potential for facial recognition technology and robotics. "Robots are not practical at every site, but for places that aren't fully staffed and are running 24-7, like a data center, they can monitor temperature and air pressure, for example, and be more reliable than a human for certain tasks."—Paul Ragusa Rahul Bhardwaj, 37 VP information security, FIS Global Jacksonville, Fla. A S VP of Information Security for FIS g lobal, a global financial services technology company, Rahul Bhardwaj wears many hats. "I also go by the title of regional security officer for our entire India and Philippines region, where we have close to 16,000 employees in these two countries," he explained. "I have a country lead who reports to me, and I manage the day-to-day security operations for everything that has to do with information security, including all of the regional and regulatory compliances." In terms of enterprise programs, Bhardwaj serves as the segment CI o for an FIS business unit that has a global operation running out of nine different countries with 16 different offices. "I manage key enterprise programs, including mergers and acquisitions, where I have a dedicated team for whenever FIS acquires a company, as we are very heavy in acquisitions," he explained. "After the acquisition, my team does a complete assessment, listing areas where we need to enhance the security of this new entity. I work with the CI o group to close any security gaps before we approve the integration of the new acquired business into the FIS network." h e also oversees the vendor review program, vetting any new vendor partners prior to adding the company to the FIS approved vendor list. Bhardwaj's group also heads the program for IS o -27001 certification for the entire enterprise. "This is the world's leading information security certificate," he said. "My team manages this across five different continents with 40 different offices."—Paul Ragusa www.securitysystemsnews.com November 2017 S e CU r ITY SYST em S N e WS 20 under 40 28