Careful safekeeping of keys and access codes, access control, and security measures inside and outside the buildings are all essential for the security of your company. Quite often, these things can be easily and inexpensively fixed.
Criminals scout their targets
Flaws in access control have been taken advantage of in numerous burglaries. A good example is a company that was burgled and the thieves left with the safe and its contents. The company in question had been visited by a person wearing the overalls of a known maintenance company and posing as their representative. While taking measurements, the thief was becoming familiar with the company facilities and the locations of valuable assets and sabotaging a few carefully chosen alarms. Even though no one had known to expect a visit from a maintenance person, nobody paid attention to the thief’s actions. With the necessary information gathered and the preparations made, the burglary was easy to pull off.
Access control is key
A company’s access control is based on space arrangements supported by monitoring devices. It is a good idea to clearly separate private and company areas with space arrangements.
Surroundings matter
Unless the access of vehicles and people to the area has been carefully planned and limited as in indoor areas, monitoring and preventing unauthorised persons from entering the area is difficult. A vehicle used by the thieves, which is parked outside at night time, will not draw the attention of the security guards if night time parking in the company parking lot is commonplace.
Flammable materials stored in the company’s outdoor areas as well as open skips will provide opportunities to arsonists.
Graffiti, broken outdoor lighting or unnecessary stored materials paint the picture of a company slow to fix flaws and with a casual approach to security. Even though there is no direct connection to crime, studies show that more crimes are perpetrated in such areas than in areas which are appropriately serviced and maintained.
Take care of key safety
Key safety comprises key, code and ID protection, lock and system access planning and safekeeping as well as access control.
A key can be used to bypass structural and electronic security devices. In addition to physical keys, keys include door codes and identifiers, passwords to different data systems, and the access codes of safety alarm systems. Keys play a primary role in any security system. That is why criminals are prepared to spend a lot of time and go to a lot of trouble to get hold of them.
Example 1:
After some maintenance work, the company discovered that some keys handed over to subcontractors were missing. The way they had been lost could not be pinpointed. Restoring the security level required the re-serialisation of several locks.
Example 2:
The actuators of the safety alarm system had been placed such that an outsider could find out the code used for disabling the system by keeping an eye on the codes entered. The break-in was done by breaking the door and disabling the alarm system.
Key safety should be based on the risk of the protected property or data being stolen and the estimated effect of the loss on the operation of your company.
Risk assessment helps in creating safety instructions
Key safety instructions are created on the basis of the risk assessment. The instructions are a part of your company’s security, so the task should not be assigned to an external security service provider.
The Federation of Finnish Financial Services provides instructions on key safety. Type ‘Key safety’ in the search field.
Break-ins have indirect consequences too
When evaluating the effects of potential break-in, you should take into consideration the indirect consequences to your company as they may be much greater than the value of the stolen property. This applies to, for instance, stolen computer equipment where data loss comprises the greatest loss to the company.
