Security Solutions - Close the Security Gap.

Modern security demands are higher than ever, and not without good cause. Today, the list of potential risks to a company is a lot longer and includes events that can happen faster and are far more dangerous than before. The list includes:

• Active shooter events
• Cyber attacks
• Acts of terrorism
• Activism
• Protests
• Workplace violence

Trends in Security

We see a global trend in changing legislation concerning security. In the USA for example, Homeland Security has already passed legislation to protect critical infrastructure from increased risks. This legislation included industries as manufacturing, energy, transportation and technology.

More important, we see that determining and mitigating a threat at the entry point is as important as preventing a hacker or a terrorist from preventing the walls of IT and facilities.

Moreover, if a company neglected to take reasonable precautions, it could be held liable for the resulting damages of earlier stated incidents.

Choosing the Right Security Solutions

To protect your company against these risks, you should include physical access in your overall security solution. Security solutions range from hiring security guards to implementing camera’s and access control devices. All of these security solutions are commonly known, yet they are also all ineffective in mitigating unauthorized access.

Guards get distracted, camera’s will only alert you after the incident has happened.

Physical entrance security solutions don’t get distracted. They successfully mitigate tailgating, every time. So, what physical entrance solution should you choose?

Keep an intruder where it belongs - outside. If an intruder can infiltrate a building’s entry points, then all other security measures are simply reactive. Security entrances are the only proactive solution that addresses the risk of unauthorized entry (including tailgating and piggybacking). Often, these security breaches are regarded as the same, but there is a significant difference.

Tailgating

Tailgating is one of the most common security breaches. The definition of tailgating is “An unauthorised person who follows an authorised person into a building”. Tailgating can occur innocently with people who know each other. For example, the first person helping the second, because they have forgotten their access card. However, tailgating can also occur when an unknown second person tries to sneak in behind an authorised person.

Piggybacking

Whether the intention is innocent or dishonest, piggybacking is an act of collusion by two people attempting to enter through a security entrance at the same time, using only one authorised credential.

While tailgating and piggybacking are often used synonymously, they are different when referring to security entrances. High security doors work to combat collusive piggybacking through the use of a sophisticated overhead sensor system that can detect when more than one person is inside a compartment designed for one.

Can User ID Prevent Piggybacking and Tailgating?

Creating a secure entry involves granting and managing access to areas within a building, ensuring that only authorised individuals can enter. To do this, companies use User ID methods, such as fingerprints, four-digit codes, hand or facial geometry, and so on. Once a digital identity is created, they can manage each user’s access to areas or zones within a building.

The most sophisticated security solution is ineffective if the entry is not properly secured. If a user is permitted to present their credentials at a swing door, the risk of an unauthorised entry has not been properly addressed. User ID alone cannot prevent piggybacking or tailgating.

But when identity is coupled with a physical security barrier, instances of tailgating and piggybacking are addressed up front, and the risk can therefore be accurately managed.

Not all security entrance solutions are equal. Depending on your situation, you may need a low, medium or high security solution.

What is “Level of Security?”

First of all, when we talk about the level of security we are talking about the ability to control physical passage by users in and out of a secured area. We break this ability down into three levels based on ability to prevent, detect or deter crime as follows:

1. High – Tailgating / piggybacking prevention 

Very high level of detection discrimination and a very high level of physical prevention. The very design or operation of the physical security product makes tailgating or piggybacking impossible or extremely difficult. Examples of such products are security revolving doors or security  portals. No supervision is needed, however cameras are almost always utilised for monitoring in case of suspicious loitering activity nearby.

2. Medium – Tailgating / piggybacking detection

High level of detection, a physical deterrent, and a moderate level of physical prevention. A speed gate has sensors installed that will sound an alarm when tailgating occurs. This level of security allows for supervision to be at a further distance and possibly less supervisors. However, it should be clear how the supervisor would respond when tailgating occurs. Is anyone else notified to confront the tailgater? Do cameras zoom in to identify the users in the area? 

3. Low – Monitoring or controlling traffic (“Keeping honest people honest”) 

Upon authorisation, users are forced to be deliberate and in some cases, slowed down through a physical barrier, such as a waist-high turnstile or a gate. This situation requires supervision at all times because the purely physical operation of the barriers can be defeated by either jumping, climbing, tailgating, or piggybacking. The benefit of a low level of security is primarily very high throughput and controlling crowds – such as at a museum, a stadium, mass transit, etc. The role of supervision is to prevent or quickly respond to attempts to defeat the barriers.

Thus, we have three levels of security: 

• Prevention (high security level)
• Detection (medium security level)
• Deterrence (low security level)

As the level of security increases, the amount of supervision required decreases, which has a financial benefit if not an operational benefit. As a result, you can achieve an ROI by the reduction of supervision staff or allocate them to other areas of need in the building. In addition, you can  mitigate physical violence opportunities, loss prevention risks, and provide superior evidence collection capabilities. To determine which security solution best fits your needs, you must ask yourself: what is your goal is?