Protect Your Castle – Introduction

Hundreds of years ago, wealthy landowners built castles to protect their families, friends, animals, and treasures. These castles had stone walls to keep invaders out, and soldiers would help to protect the walls and castle. Some castles had large moats with draw bridges and others had natural land barriers like cliffs or rivers. Whenever there was a threat, the people would lock down the castle.

The people within the castle were hoping for protection and safety, while the invaders were fighting to wreak havoc to gain access to the treasures within. Each group had their own tools to help them accomplish their respective goals. The protectors’ first tool was the terrain because castles were built in strategic locations that were defensible. Second, the walls of the castle were built strong, high, and thick. Thirdly, they had an army of soldiers. Lastly, there was probably some nasty surprise for invaders that breached the defenses of the castle, which could have been anything from booby traps to a poisoned water supply.

These invaders had their share of tricks too. First, they needed a well-equipped army with plenty of resources, like food, shelter, and weapons. Secondly, they needed to gain access to the castle by using a battering ram, ladders, catapults, and in some cases, tunneling under the walls. In some instances, the invading force would use a siege strategy and surround the castle to wait for the people to surrender when they ran out of resources. Once in the castle, the invaders needed to have the ability to overtake the remaining defenses to steal the riches of the castle.

One of the sneakiest tools available to invaders was a traitor. Traitors were invaluable because they could provide critical intelligence about the resources available within the walls, the defenses of the castle, and strategy of the protectors. In some rare examples, the traitors could even provide the invaders with access to the interior castle by lowering the draw bridge or unlocking the back door.

Now, what does this have to do with you and your business? The castle is your company; the treasures and resources are your data, information, and money; the walls and defenses are your internal controls and processes; and your army is your employees. The invaders are the external threats to your business like cybercriminals or fraudsters who try to steal your treasures. Finally, the traitors are your own employees who either help the external threats steal from you or who steal directly from you without the help of others.

This three-part series will help you enhance your control environment by diving a little deeper into the following subjects:

1. Strengthening the walls of your castle by accessing and enhancing the internal controls and processes of your organization;
2. Teaching the purpose of strong walls to mitigate the uprising of traitors within your organization; and finally,
3. Learning how to keep your employees engaged. Engaging around the purpose is just as important as teaching the purpose because if an employee is not engaged, then the lessons taught will never be applied.

Stay tuned for next week’s blog to learn more about strengthening the walls of the castle.