As the number of active shooter events increases dramatically, more and more lawsuits are being brought against employers in their wake.

Traditional guarding is getting shaken up by new skills, services and technology. How are guarding firms and security officers shifting their priorities and offerings to keep pace and continue to add value to enterprises and security departments? It’s time to go beyond basic patrol, observe and report functions.

Robots are here and it’s not a gimmick. As in many industries, the introduction of machine learning, computer vision and robotics is changing the paradigm of security and facility teams.

The global market for security robotics will grow at a compound annual rate of 20 percent over the next five years to reach a total market value of $2.8 billion by 2023, according to an IDC Market Spotlight report titled, “Extending the Capabilities of Human Security Officers With Modern Robotics,” written by John Santagate, research director, service robots for IDC.

Only 29 percent of healthcare organizations reporting having a comprehensive security program in place, and among those that do not have such a program, 31 percent are either not meeting with their executive committee or are meeting less than once a year to give security updates.

According to ACI Worldwide, merchants should expect a 14-percent increase in fraud attempts between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve 2018. The value of fraud attempts is expected to increase by 17 percent.

The global cybersecurity workforce gap has increased to more than 2.9 million, according to (ISC)2. Fifty-nine percent of cybersecurity professionals say that the widening workforce gap puts their organizations at risk.

If your company relies upon third-party cloud providers to support or deliver core services, or to protect sensitive data, it’s crucial to understand that cloud security is a shared responsibility.

Last month I had the honor to speak at the Security 500 conference in front of a large room of senior security leaders.  My own personal take-away from the event is that no matter how long you’ve been in this industry there is always something new to learn.

One of the most rewarding parts of my job, as Editor of Security magazine, is the opportunity to speak with our readers. I recently had the pleasure to speak with Whit Chaiyabhat, staff vice president, crisis manager, for FM Global, one of the world’s largest commercial and industrial property insurers.