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“List all incidents between January 1, 2012 and March 31, 2012 that occurred in the Main, North and Administration buildings where there was a direct loss of $500 or more. How does this list compare to the same period last year?”
If you need to answer questions like this, compile your incident data to generate statistics or justify the numbers for next year’s budget, you need to analyze your incident activity. You need to cross-reference and correlate your data. You need to drill down—through all of your incidents and through all of your investigations—to answer quick questions, generate routine reports and make informed, data-driven decisions.
Back in 2005, we published our “Top 10 Tips for Incident Analysis.” Almost ten years later, the same list still applies! It’s the main things you need to consider… and plan for… when you transition from simply filing reports to using your historical data in order to prevent incidents.
Here’s a high level look at our Top 10:
10. Answer the basics!
Document the what, when, where, why, who, and how.
9. Share security information enterprise-wide.
Cross-reference and compare to reach meaningful conclusions.
8. Track costs… including losses and recoveries.
Accurate incident data leads to effective risk assessment.
7. Set yourself up to easily perform analysis and quickly generate reports.
Track incidents, gather data, analyze and report.
6. Consider the investigative relevance.
Analyze the facts to determine causes and recurring patterns.
5. Measure current performance against past performance.
Use charts and graphs to compare and measure improvement.
4. Address operational effectiveness and defend your budget.
Justify funds used for resources and countermeasures.
3. Support knowledge-based decisions with hardcore statistical evidence.
Gather and use concrete evidence to support incident management decisions.
2. Focus on pattern analysis and trend spotting.
Review records and perform analysis to spot trends.
1. Use your results to assess, manage and mitigate risk.
Track. Analyze. Report. Prevent.
For more information on each point, please take a look at the complete Top 10 Tips for Incident Analysis datasheet. I hope you’ll be inspired to look at incidents in a whole new way… a way that drives you to compare performance over various time periods, to routinely look for patterns and trends and to use your newfound incident intelligence to assess, manage and mitigate risk.
—Elaine O’Sullivan, President & Co-CEO
