The author presents the concept of "need" as an important theoretical category that occurs in various fields of science. They concern the versatile aspects of human life in its various dimensions: individual and group, intra-social and international. He argues that institutions are involved in their implementation, political activity is mobilized, public opinion is probed and research is conducted. Therefore, it is not possible to consider safety without reference to the category of needs, just as it does not exist without relation to its subject. The article presents the essence of needs and their classification in a systematic way, analyzing the need for security in social life. It proves that security remains one of the basic needs of man and social groups organizing themselves into institutions to satisfy them. He points out that the need for security constantly motivates people to be active and take actions, the scope of which has already significantly begun to extend in the modern world beyond state borders and their relative self-sufficiency.