In the context of hostile reconnaissance, NPSA defines deterrence as: The intelligent, co-ordinated promotion of protective security provision to the hostile that results in the perception and/or assessment that the reconnaissance or the attack itself will fail.
Hostiles will not necessarily be deterred from a target simply because it has CCTV or guards or a particular fence or lock. Instead, an organisation needs to use these security measures in an effective manner and to then communicate them to the hostile. If a hostile believes a site has excellent security measures due to what they've read online or seen on a poster or witnessed in operation, it may be enough to deter them from their target altogether.
Deterrence measures can be cheap, relatively easy to deploy or may just involve the more targeted deployment of existing assets. The effect should be one that deters the hostile, but has a neutral or even positive effect on your employees and visitors.
See, Check and Notify (SCaN) is a suite of training materials that aims to help you maximise safety and security using existing resources.
SCaN training empowers you and your staff to correctly identify suspicious activity and know what to do when it is encountered. In addition to this, the skills learned can help provide an enhanced customer experience. It helps ensure that individuals or groups seeking to cause your organisation harm are unable to get the information they need to plan their actions.
Election staff, particularly those who are associated with a fixed location such as an office or a polling station, may find undertaking SCaN for All Staff a useful, freely available and concise training course.
If your election-related physical location controls who can visit, we advise reviewing your visitor entry processes. Both online and physical reconnaissance are common and threat actors may look for a means to physically enter in your organisation. This isn't just on the day, but in the build-up to the election. As soon as it's known that somewhere is a polling station for instance, a hostile might start their planning. Given that polling stations are often in the same place, someone might already be undertaking reconnaissance.
Employees tasked with document verification, whether during pre-employment screening and/or during visitor entry, must be vigilant to the threat of fraudulent documentation.
Motivated, attentive and observant security personnel will also form a highly-effective deterrent presence and final line of defence where other interventions may have failed.