Association of Security Consultants make Imbert Prize Awards

The Association of Security Consultants (ASC) has made its annual awards under the Imbert Prize with support and sponsorship from Samsung Techwin.

Speeches during the ceremony attended by 80 members and guests at the Royal Air Force Club, London, included an address by Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, Vice Chief of Defence Staff, on the current state of world security. The Imbert Prize underlines the Association's mission to encourage the advancement of risk and security management in the UK. It is named after Lord Peter Imbert of New Romsey, former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service and Lord Lieutenant of Greater London.

The university dissertation award was won by Lt Col Paul Easter of Cranfield University for his paper 'Jihadist Use of Technology: 1998-2013' in which the author considers Jihadists' exploitation of the entire technology spectrum as well as radicalisation of potential recruits, their subsequent training and the planning and execution of attacks such as 9/11 and the assault on USS Cole.

The ASC panel also assesses nominations from professional associations for the person making the most notable contribution to the security industry in the preceding year. The nominating associations are ASIS, BSIA, IPSA and the Security Institute. The panel noted the high quality of entrants, with all the nominees having demonstrated commitment and tangible achievements in the security industry over many years. After much deliberation, the Security Associations' award went to Peter Finch for his significant contributions as Chairman of the National Association for Healthcare Security and to NHS security in general.

The ASC Award is presented to the ASC member who has made the most significant contribution to independent security consultancy in the preceding year, nominated by his/her peers and adjudged by the ASC Awards Panel. The winner was Joe Connell, a board member and director, for his outstanding efforts in organising and driving forward the ASC's annual conference, CONSEC.

This year a special award for outstanding continuous service was made to Colin Braziel. Colin has been actively involved with the ASC since shortly after its inception and has served variously as Information Security Lead, Events Organiser, Board Director, Vice Chairman, Chairman and currently as Secretary. Forthcoming ASC events include CONSEC 2104 / Women in Security Awards on October 2nd at the London Heathrow Marriott Hotel and the ASC annual dinner on 28th November at the House of Lords.