- ORGSEC
- The organisation's role in total defence
The organisation's role in total defence
For leadership teams, boards and preparedness officers in organisations that deliver something society depends on, and that after the Total Defence Year must be able to show what they have actually done, not only what they know.
Why now
The expectation is explicit, and it will be followed up
In March 2026 the Minister of Justice sent a letter to all Norwegian organisations, via the Norwegian Business and Industry Security Council, with four concrete expectations: keep up with the threat picture, map and maintain an overview of your own assets, risks and vulnerabilities, plan to maintain activity during outages of power, digital services or water, and use the Total Defence Year to exercise. DSB says the same in its guidance: it is the organisation's own responsibility to prepare for security-policy crisis and war, and every organisation should exercise, if only as a discussion exercise that clarifies roles, responsibilities and authority.
The distance between expectation and practice is nevertheless large. NHO's survey from January 2026 shows that only one in three businesses sees itself as part of the national preparedness, while six in ten want to contribute more, and that 64 per cent of the smallest businesses are to a small extent prepared for serious security incidents, against 19 per cent of those with more than 50 employees. The Office of the Auditor General concluded in 2025 that civilian total defence actors at regional and local level plan to a small extent for security-policy crisis and war, and the Storting's scrutiny committee asked in the spring of 2026 for a new review after two years instead of three. Exercise Total Defence 2026 in September gave many leadership teams a first experience of how far the plan actually held.
Sources: Ministry of Justice, letter of 16 March 2026 (Norwegian) · DSB: What should your organisation do in the Total Defence Year? (Norwegian) · NHO, January 2026 · Recommendation 178 S (2025–2026)
The four expectations
What the authorities have asked organisations to do
The letter applies to organisations of all sizes, and the most important contribution business can make in crisis and war is to deliver as close to normal as possible, so that society's emergency resources can be used where they are needed most.
The threat picture
Use the open threat and risk assessments from PST, the Intelligence Service and NSM, and the analyses from DSB and the police, as the basis for your own assessments.
Assets, risk and vulnerability
Know what makes the organisation interesting to a threat actor, which assets it holds, and how the vulnerabilities could be exploited.
Continuity and self-preparedness
Plan to deliver as close to normal as possible during outages of power, digital services and water, with staffing contingency and fallback solutions.
Exercise
Take part in the larger exercises where possible, and otherwise use DSB's exercise material for your own exercises in the organisation.
In the ORGSEC assessment
Where the theme lands in the assessment
- Area 02
Risk and threats
Whether the organisation has an up-to-date understanding of the threat picture and of its own assets and vulnerabilities, and whether it is used in decisions.
- Area 03
Preparedness and continuity
Whether critical functions and dependencies are known, whether the continuity plans cover outages of power, communications and water, and whether they have been exercised.
The ORGSEC assessment reads the four expectations and DSB's five steps into these two areas, so that management gets one answer to what the authorities have actually asked. See the six areas →
What we deliver
Assessment, e-learning and talk
After the Total Defence Year, the question will be what has been done. We help the organisation document it, and find out what remains.
Total defence preparedness
Verification of the four expectations from the Ministry of Justice and DSB's five steps, per unit, with a findings report and a plan for 3, 12 and 24 months. All services →
The organisation's role in total defence
For leaders and preparedness officers. The four expectations from the authorities, what they mean in your own organisation, and the DSB discussion exercise as the final task. About the subscription →
Where were you when the resources found each other?
The organisation's role in total defence after the Total Defence Year – what the authorities have asked for, what the exercises showed, and what remains.
Talk
The talk within the theme
Where were you when the resources found each other?
The organisation's role in total defence after the Total Defence Year – what the authorities have asked for, what the exercises showed, and what remains.
- Suitable for
- Leadership teams and boards, municipal councils and preparedness councils, industry associations and networks
- Format
- 45–90 minutes, or a half day with the DSB discussion exercise for the leadership team. In person or online.
The people
Talk to an expert
Tell us what you need, and we will propose scope and delivery. The assessment is carried out digitally; we recommend, you decide.
- CEO · ExpertiseOle André BråtenSecurity researcher and special adviser in organisational security
- COO · Projects and developmentAnette FalkumProject and innovation manager
