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CAN ONLINE SOCIAL PROFILING HELP SNIFF OUT THE THREAT OF TERRORISM?

CASE STUDY:  AIRPORTS & AIRLINES - THE CASE FOR ONLINE SOCIAL PROFILING

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The ONSRA check will identify inconsistencies within an individual’s online profile by screening information across hundreds of social networking sites and millions of individual web pages, bringing together the information into a consolidated and easy to interpret result which does not compromise the privacy of the individual.

Airports like many other high footfall buildings are physically designed to accommodate highly effective onsite security - designed to ensure that footfall is driven through a specific routing and a number of ‘checkpoints’. Staff members are crucial in the management of these checkpoints and represent what is potentially a single point of failure for meeting the organisation’s security objectives.

Given the number of staff and the potential ‘points of failure’ involved in running such operations as Luton Airport, as well as the importance to ensure that staff working in the environment do not present a trojan horse style risk, stringent pre-screening and employment checks are crucial.

Check-in staff has the power to place individuals in convenient seats on an aircraft, a passport controller has the ability to allow a passenger to clear the border, a security scan operator has the ability to clear an item of luggage, and so on. Operational procedures, supervising & monitoring individuals as well as technology all help to minimise the risk, but there is no doubt that ensuring the right staff who are committed to the confidentiality and security objectives of the airport should be a primary focus.

It takes a recruiter just 90 seconds to request an ONSRA, and the potential benefits from assessing the security risk through Online Social Profiling is not just financial, but life and society critical. In short, the ONSRA is about filling a current security gap and enhancing processes by using modern solutions and intelligence in an appropriate, fair, and non-intrusive way. A fully compliant and fair solution to help meet one of the most discussed HR challenges of today.

So, what are the financial and social benefits of an ONSRA check? Here are a few questions for the Aviation CFOs to answer.

Remember the evaluation by Abelite Consulting Ltd who stated costs in excess of £500k for the false alarm at Luton?

u What would be the cost of an incident caused or allowed by an extremist sympathiser member of staff?  The risk and life cost is infinite. If an airport could predict the behaviours of an individual through a simple Online Social Profiling check, who would argue that it is not an essential pre-screening requirement?

u What would be the cost to society of an illegal immigrant entering the UK due to a border control officer allowing access?

u What would be the cost of a fatal piece of luggage being ‘allowed through’ by an extremist sympathiser during check-in or baggage screening?

These are just a few questions to consider, and admittedly there are many more to answer. What is clear is that for such a minor investment it’s no wonder that Airports, Airlines and Security providers are adopting Online Social Profiling to enhance and modernise their pre-screening process in order to minimise the risks within their organisations and to protect their stakeholders.

AVIATION INDUSTRY - THE CASE FOR ONLINE SOCIAL PROFILING

The Aviation sector is increasingly using Online Social Profiling to enhance standards of recruitment and to strengthen pre-employment screening in the backdrop of heightened security threats. The SP Index explores the case for Online Social Profiling in Aviation.

For some time organisations have been using social media to check out the online profiles of candidates during the recruitment process. Most try to do this internally by Googling someone or scanning Facebook to find out more. This process is random, time consuming and often returns inaccurate results. It is also non-compliant with legislation and HR guidelines since it provides information relating to protected characteristics which would otherwise be excluded from the recruitment process.

Those who carry out checks in a compliant way (known in the HR world as Online Social Profiling) will use third party suppliers to provide these checks who will ensure that only allowable and relevant information is passed back to the employer. This is the first important step towards remaining compliant [watch this compliance video for more information].

The immediate benefits are obvious. A company spends just 90 seconds to complete a request for an individual’s Online Social Profile report by submitting only information which has been provided by the candidate under traditional recruitment processes. No social media account details, login names, or passwords are required and the candidate opts-in the same way as they would for a credit or DBS check. Simple.

The Aviation sector has increasingly been adopting this compliant approach of online profiling but organisations in the Aviation and Security sectors have additional incentives with the enhanced security check known as ONSRA.

ADDED BENEFITS FOR AVIATION AND SECURITY SECTORS - THE ONSRA CHECK

Major incidents at UK airports are rare, but when they do occur the cost is phenomenal. When Luton Airport experienced a perceived security threat on the 8 Sept 2014, thousands of people were evacuated, more than 50 flights were cancelled, 13 flights diverted elsewhere, surrounding roads closed, bomb disposal experts drafted in and shifts extended throughout the night as incident procedures were initiated. In addition, lost retail revenues and reputational damage (it was a false alarm caused by some hair straighteners left in the security search area).

According to Abelite Consulting Ltd (specialist consultants in cost reduction programmes within the aviation industry) the total financial cost would have exceeded £500,000, ignoring the social cost.

The ONSRA (Online Network Security Risk Assessment) check is one of the latest techniques used by companies operating in the Aviation and Security sectors to counter the threat of terrorism. It is of particular interest to organisations which operate in an environment where high levels of safety and security are core objectives and where the security threat is at its greatest.

The ONSRA is an in-depth assessment of an individual’s online network with the intention to identify and evaluate the future risks to the security of an employer, customers, or the general public. It looks into their online social media and network (including other individuals, groups and links to Proscribed Organisations) in order to assess the risk due to their online networking. In addition, their online behaviours are assessed in order to identify characteristics leaning towards violence and threatening behaviour, racism, discrimination and harassment.

The SP Index team are thought leaders in Online Social Profiling and are the UK's leading supplier of compliant profiling. If you would like further information about Online Social Profiling or wish to apply your own situation to our benefits calculator in order to evaluate your Return on Investment, please contact:

E: sarah.poynton@sp-index.com  

T: 0845 177 0700

Feel free to share your feedback on this article @SP_index and include the hash tag #onlinesocialprofiling.

www.sp-index.com  

www.linkedin.com/in/sarahpoynton

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FURTHER BENEFITS

To illustrate, let’s use an example for a typical airport in the UK. A mid-sized airport such as Luton employs around 2,500 staff. Recruiting managers don’t currently carry out an online check for every individual recruited - this decision is normally the result of an internal risk assessment to define which roles are appropriate for a check. But let’s just assume that every recruit is subject to a check.

Assuming a replenishment level of 10%, this would result in 250 new recruits each year. According to our database of historic profile results, 1 in 10 recruits will receive a ‘red light’ status warning - let’s refer to these individuals as the ‘Beta’ candidates. In other words, they will show some elements of bullying, harassment, brand abuse, leakage of employer information, links to illegal activities etc. within their online profile. This means that the airport would be bringing into their business an estimated 25 Beta employees every year who show signs of undesirable online behavioural traits.

The results of 18 months of research by the SP-Index [2010-2012] into online cognitive style shows a 67% likelihood that these Beta candidates will demonstrate the same behaviours in the workplace. Ironically, social media will be often be used as a platform to, for example, bully or harass colleagues. This is not too surprising given the fact that genuine online social networking accounts are deemed ‘real life’ by many individuals today - especially in the 20-33 year old bracket. These individuals are illuminating behaviours that simply lie in dark shadows during traditional methods of assessing candidates i.e. CV [related article], interview, psychometric test and other pre-screening checks such as employment references, DBS and credit checks.

So, what are the percieved benefits so far?

Assuming that recruiting managers would have spent a prudent 30mins for every recruit looking into their online accounts - this would be 125 hours per year carrying out non-compliant checks during recruitment and which are likely to provide inaccurate results. An enormous waste of time which simply adds exposure to the business. A highly talented candidate will risk being rejected as a result of a subjective (or sub-concious) decision by the employer which may be linked only to a few pictures viewed, or even worse, due to the influence of protected characteristics.

The alternative is 250x90seconds = 6.25 hours spent to request 250 profile reports. This would be a time efficiency saving of an amazing 95%! In addition, the focus of the recruiter is improved, the process is now fully compliant, the candidate is treated fairly and the best talent is retained during the recruitment process.

u 95% less time will be spent carrying out online checks

u The airport will become fully compliant with legal and ethical guidelines and elements of discrimination will be removed

u Great talent will no longer be inadvertently or otherwise overlooked and the standard of recruitment will be maintained or even improved

Of course, if we assumed that the airport was not checking any staff at all, the proportion of those likely to demonstrate negative real life behaviours would remain at least the same at 25 of the 250.

Conclusion: Online Social Profiling would eliminate or in the least would minimise the number of Beta candidates entering the business.

COST AVOIDANCE - ONE FOR THE CFOs

Another most obvious area for achieving benefits is the downstream risk of HR professionals having to handle disciplinaries. Assuming the Beta candidates have been allowed into the organisation, and that 67% are found to carry their negative online behaviours into the workplace, this means that the HR team or line managers will need to handle 16 new Beta cases through disciplinary action each year. An inefficiency that potntially could have been avoided.

Russell HR Consulting Ltd (specialists in legal and disciplinary cases involving social media) state that such cases cost on average £18k - time wasted handling the disciplinary process, unfair dismissal claims, re-recruitment fees, re-training costs, and so on. This excludes any cost to go to tribunal or make compensation payouts.

Applying our example, for 16 Beta candidates the cost would equate to an astonishing £300k (£1,200 per recruiit assuming 250 new employees) before tribunal. A phenomenal figure and ‘hidden’ cost that could have been predicted and avoided using Online Social Profiling. And here’s a statistic for the CFO -  if we assume that only 10% of this cost would be avoided due to Online Social Profiling, the saving would still far outweigh the cost of a service to profile 250 candidates in a year!

Combining the implementation of Online Social Profiling of candidates with modernised and strengthened staff policies to reflect this innovative and effective HR power- tool gives the added benefit of providing a stronger foundation for handling incidents of misuse of social media by employees. This advanced intelligence relating to online behaviours will allow emphasis to be placed on the importance of social media and brand management policies from the outset of employment. Over time, the mutual culture, acceptance, and expectations between employer and employee become aligned and a smooth relationship with social media will exist into the future.

Aviation companies tend not to reject Beta candidates outright just due to the result of their profile. Online Social Profiling is a positive and engaging tool to allow both the employer and the candidate to reconcile cultural values and expectations from the outset via an open and engaging process. It is only when the Online Social Profile result adds weight to other concerns (such as failed DBS and/or credit checks and poor employment references) that it is used as a final decision factor.

u Significant cost avoidance and ROI will be achieved (on average £1,200 per recruit) from profiling new staff and engaging early & openly with Beta candidates

u Cultures, values and expectations between employer and employees become aligned - fit for tackling future challenges linked to online activities of staff

u Improved business focus for HR and line managers with a significant reduction in the number of disciplinaries and unfair dismissal claims

CONCLUSION

Online Social Profiling is a fully compliant tool that is generating enormous benefits to the Aviation and Security industry,  delivering not just major efficiency improvements, but innovative methods to predict future risks to the safety and security of stakeholders as well as high Returns on Investment £££. It is no wonder this important and volatile sector is increasingly adopting such an innovative tool.