Types of Physical Security Threats You Should Know

Why do incidents happen? #

Break-ins by burglars are possible because of the vulnerabilities in the security system. Sophisticated criminals plan a burglary and know your company’s protective measures as well as their weaknesses and are familiar with your daily operations. Opportunistic burglars act on the spur of the moment. In the majority of cases, commercial burglary is carried out because there are no proper detection devices available on site or there is a gap between detection and response to a crime.

In another scenario, former employees are able to use their credentials to enter a company’s facilities. This is possible if their access rights were not terminated right after they left an organization. Such an intrusion may be undetected at the time when it takes place.

Office theft is not limited to material assets. These days data leakage may pose even more serious consequences including loss of sensitive information, credit card details, intellectual property or identity theft. In some cases, former employees are responsible for data theft. However, cybercriminals can also jeopardize valuable information if it is not properly protected.

What security measures should be implemented to prevent the threats? #

There are a few metrics to analyze security effectiveness and improve countermeasures to the security risks. The following steps will help prevent commercial burglary and office theft:

• Identify your vulnerabilities and mitigate them. Consider all the possible access points and make sure that you are able to detect an intruder and intercept him or her before they reach an intended target.

• Remember that a good security strategy includes measures and devices that enable detection, assessment and response. For instance, an alarm system could serve as a detection tool, a CCTV camera helps to assess a situation, and thanks to a security intercom a security officer could intervene to stop a criminal from reaching their target.
  
  
• Implement access control at various levels from parking lots to server rooms to make an intrusion harder to organize.
  
  
• Keep track of security events to analyze minor vulnerabilities.
  
  
• Conduct risk assessment on an annual basis.
  
  
• Deny the right of access to the employers that were fired right after they left the company.
  
  
• Make sure that information security best practices are adopted within your organization.
  
  
• Implementing role-based access control is essential to information security.
  
  
• Do not leave valuable assets and sensitive information in a place that can be easily reached.

Security Breaches in the Workplace #

What are some common workplace security breaches? #

Workplace security can be compromised through physical as well as digital types of security breaches. The physical security breaches can deepen the impact of any other types of security breaches in the workplace. So, let’s expand upon the major physical security breaches in the workplace.

Rogue Employees #

It has been observed in the many security breaches that the disgruntled employees of the company played the main role in major security breaches in the workplace. The example of Sony’s data breach is one such kind of workplace security breach.

Casual Attitude #

The casual attitude of employees or management toward security awareness can lead to the disastrous results. There should be strict rules to follow the procedures without any exceptions.

Unattended Assets & Areas #

Any valuable data or equipment at the workplace should not be left unattended at all. Meanwhile, leaving a critical workplace area unattended or unlocked is another critical component that can add huge risk to the physical security breaches in your workplace.

Exceptions in Physical Access Rules #

The physical security is the first circle of a powerful security mechanism at your workplace. So, always keep it strict and follow the physical security procedures in real sense. Always avoid any kind of exceptions in allowing access to the internal or external peoples to the restricted areas.

Eavesdropping over Sensitive Information #

Eavesdropping has been a fundamental breach in the data security as well as in the physical security. The overhearing of the lock codes, pins, and security passwords is a big breach, which can lead to the disastrous outcomes. So, always take care to avoid any kind of eavesdropping in your surroundings.

Why is it important that you should address them immediately? #

According to the FBI guidelines for workplace security, you should always take special care to address any vulnerabilities pertaining to the internal as well as external threats to save millions of dollars as a business loss.

Normally, any physical workplace security breach needs some time for planning and execution of the malicious act. So, you should always resolve any vulnerability immediately as you find it. By doing this, you can save your workplace from sustaining big damages. The main activities to address the security risks immediately include, change of passwords, reviewing the vulnerable points, tightening physical access, deterring internal threats, isolating the important assets and information and many others.

How do you go about preventing these security breaches? #

To prevent any security breach at the workplace, take the following steps:

• Review and restrict physical access as per security policy
• Review and change the access passwords and keys
• Review and monitor the egress and ingress points
• Aware the concerned people to handle any uneven situation
• Identify and secure critical information
• Check and renew the network security and firewall settings
• Change security keys after every employee leaves the company
• Change the guards (human), if any