SAMI Accredidation?…Check before you believe… April 30, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in Industry News, Laws and Leglslation, Piracy & Maritime Security.Tags: Accredidation, Chris Mark, Maritime Security, membership, Piracy Europe, SAMI
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I am recently back from speaking an an anti-piracy event in Hamburg, Germany. Overall, it was a good conference but I was struck by one particular company that was strongly advertising that they were SAMI Accredited. I thought this claim merited some investigation and it would allow me to understand what, exactly, it means to be SAMI Accredited. First…here is the list of accredited PSMCs through SAMI. The Security Administration for the Maritime Industry or SAMI is a: “a global organisation representing companies working in maritime security and related industries. SAMI has introduced a level of compliance and scrutiny to ensure that the maritime industry can easily identify reputable private maritime security companies. SAMI provides reassurance, guidance, and minimum quality and standards in the delivery of maritime security where none has existed before. The SAMI Standard has been established as the international benchmark for standards within the industry. The Association is an international non -governmental organisation (NGO), which exists to facilitate clear dialogue and a common standards framework in the delivery of maritime security products to the shipping community.” As a membership organization anyone that is a signatory on the ICOC can join SAMI as a ‘member’. This does not mean you are accredited. After joining SAMI a company may then volunteer to participate in the 3 step SAMI Accreditation Programme. According to the SAMI website: (more…)
“Lipstick and Eyeshadow on a Pig” + “Nail Polish” April 21, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in Industry News.Tags: Chris Mark, competitive intelligence, cybersecurity, hanson wade, Maritime Security, mark consulting group, piracy, Piracy Europe, Scout/Sniper
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Since I am heading to the Piracy event in Hamburg, Germany this week and (here is a plug…will be speaking on Cybersecurity), I thought it appropriate to re-post this particular post with some added commentary. You can read the previous posts on vetting armed security here. I have added four techniques used by companies to project a skewed image. I call them: “Sitting With Cool Kids” ; “Wining and Dining”; “Bravado Impresario”; and “Rambo-ing a Client”.
This is a bit off topic but I think it is interesting. In a previous life I used to manage number of competitive intelligence projects for clients. It is field I find fascinating and very interesting and I put quite a bit of time into learning about CI and it’s application. Today I was reminded of a CI signal and thought I would pass on. When I was a younger man I liked to race my motorcycle around the streets and highways of Texas. I remember my friend told me once: “Never race a car or bike that has a primer paint job.” I asked why and he said: “Because they don’t care about looks and they put all their money into motor.” It makes perfect sense in street racing and in business. One of the trends that I look for is companies suddenly “painting their car” or announcing that they are about to “paint their car” for no real reason. While companies should always be focused on improving their marketability, often a radical change like a total re-branding or a shiny new website suggests something more sinister. Often these changes are calculated to occur at an opportune time like right before a major industry event. (more…)
Geopolitical Context of Piracy; Dr. Heather Mark April 18, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in Industry News, Piracy & Maritime Security.Tags: Chris Mark, combating piracy week, Dr. Heather Mark, geopolitical context of piracy, Maritime Security, Piracy & Maritime Security
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Since I am traveling to Hamburg this week for a piracy event (pirates like “ARGHH MATEY!” type)…not software pirates….to provide my readers with some piracy info, I am publishing the whitepaper: “The Geopolitical Context of Piracy” by the illustrious Dr. Heather Mark. This paper has an interesting history. At one point the paper was ‘borrowed’ by a person who proceeded to publish the paper as four articles which he attributed authorship to himself. Plagiarism is alive in 2012 😉 Fortunately, the organization who published the articles recognized something was amiss and contacted Heather. Please read the paper….good info…No doubt the person who “borrowed” the paper will try to once again pass it off as his own as the event…
Published Articles: – “Geopolitical Context of Piracy” February 24, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in Industry News, Piracy & Maritime Security, Uncategorized.Tags: Dr. Heather Mark, geopolitical context of piracy, Maritime Security, markconsultinggroup.com, Piracy & Maritime Security, pirate as a rational actor, security
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UPDATE: The company that published the articles contacted Heather and has agreed to pull the articles off their website. This is good news and shows that the copany is interested in ensuring their readers get original work from the original author. In an interesting twist, the company representative stated that, when asked, the party who submitted the articles stated “unequivocally” that it was their work. Considering that the company pulled the articles, Heather has a PhD and background in defense, and political economy, and has published over 100 articles, scores of whitepapers, research briefs and other material as well as possessing the original whitepaper from which it was taken, I think the readers are savvy enough to know the actual author of the work. It certainly seems unlikely that a person who has never published a single article or other document would embark on something as complex as: “the Geopolitical Context of Piracy” for their first foray into writing.
Two years ago my wife, Dr. Heather Mark wrote a whitepaper on the Geopolitical Context of Piracy that has since been broken into its component sections and published verbatim as 4 different articles without any form of attribution to her. She was contacted by the organization that published the articles today to ask about her work and attribution. To assuage any concerns that it is indeed her sole work and not anybody else’s work here is a copy of the whitepaper. “Understanding Modern Piracy; Geopolitical and Regulatory Considerations”….the first section is titled: “Geopolitical Considerations”, the next section is titled: “Current Anti-Piracy Efforts”. Heather is a brilliant person and a tremendous righter writer (thanks to Heather’ brother Bill for pointing this out;). There are times that I certainly would like to “borrow” her work and claim it as my own. I would certainly appear smarter and more informed than I actually am. As professional writers (yup, we actually get paid to write;) it is disturbing when someone uses your work without attribution.
Kudos to the company for maintaining the integrity of its service and evaluating the content and writers.
Egypt States Position on Armed Guards and Weapons February 22, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in Industry News, Piracy & Maritime Security, weapons and tactics.Tags: armed security, Chris Mark, Egypt, Maritime Security, mark consulting group, markconsultinggroup.com, Piracy & Maritime Security, UK P&I
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UK P&I Club released a bulletin that outlines Egypt’s position on armed guards and weapons within Egypt and its waters. Below are the salient points of the letter received from the Egyptian Government:
“1) The Egyptian Government forbids the presence of any Weapons / Armed Guards on
board of commercial vessels as per the rules and regulations of the International Maritime Organization. (more…)
Global Security, Privacy, & Risk Management 