Interview: Émile Pérez, Director of Security and Business Intelligence, EDF Group

Based on their experience, do you think frequent travellers have a distorted perception of risk?

Émile Pérez - It's true that local knowledge can make you less vigilant. However, I've spent 20 years travelling the world. Perhaps it's due to my temperament, but I've always been careful, even in places with a reputation for safety, because an incident can happen anywhere. The first advice I give to travellers is often simple common sense. You have to be careful about what you do and where you go, protecting your physical integrity as well as your valuables and the information you carry with you on business trips. You have to maintain a constant level of vigilance, while avoiding two excesses: complete paranoia or total carefree attitude.

You need to maintain a constant level of vigilance

What strategy should companies adopt?

E. P. - I regularly use the term 'glocalization' to describe both the threat and the measures to be taken. The response in terms of security must be global, i.e. the same process to protect employees wherever they are, on the other side of the world or in the office next door. At the same time, this response must be 'local', adapted to the situation on the ground. Security issues are not dealt with in the same way in Africa, China, the United States or London. This requires a clear discernment of the possible risks and ad hoc measures. With the "glocal" response, we get down to the nitty-gritty of ensuring that the system is in line with the essential objective of preserving a company's greatest asset: its people.