March 2019 AST Magazine March 2019 AST Magazine | Page 6

ABRA
(Asset Based Risk
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Analysis, pronounced ah-
Bra) has been developed by
Haines Security Solutions.
It identifies and measures
risks and determines the
most cost-effective counter-
measures for mitigating
those risks.
Although this method was
originally designed to address
terrorist threats, ABRA 2.0, if
you will, uses the same process
to effectively address criminal
activity, sabotage, and espio-
nage threats.
Risk Management
In risk management, the
estimates calculated from a
quantitative assessment are
used as the basis for making
decisions.
Because risk is quantifi-
able, it becomes a yardstick
that can be used to make
decisions about allocating
resources (funding and peo-
ple).
In ABRA, risk is associated with
March 2019 - Edition 33
The following definition of risk manage-
ment is used in the security engineering
field:
“EVALUATING ALTERNATIVE
COUNTERMEASURES AND DESIGN
OPTIONS AND SELECTING FROM
AMONG THEM.”
“THIS INVOLVES CONSIDERATION OF
POLITICAL, SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND
ENGINEERING INFORMATION WITH
RISK-RELATED INFORMATION TO DE-
VELOP, ANALYZE, AND COMPARE AC-
CEPTABLE OPTIONS AND TO SELECT
THE APPROPRIATE RESPONSE TO A
POTENTIAL THREAT.”
“THE SELECTION PROCESS REQUIRES
PLACING VALUE ON SUCH ISSUES
AS; THE AMOUNT OF RISK CONSID-
ERED ACCEPTABLE, THE REDUCTION
IN RISK DUE TO APPLIED COUNTER-
MEASURES, AND THE REASONABLE-
NESS OF THE COSTS OF COUNTER-
MEASURES.”
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