In the face of the sad criminal acts that continue to occur in the world, it will never hurt to shield oneself to the maximum to avoid catastrophic consequences for people and companies.
By Magdalena Reyes*
Imagine saving a whole year to take your vacation in a dream hotel. Finally the day comes and you are in that long-awaited room, enjoying a well-deserved rest. Suddenly everything becomes confusing, he hears a sling in the corridor and what should have been a moment of happiness and comfort becomes in an instant of terror.
This scene is not from a movie, it was the reality of the guests of a hotel in Las Vegas (United States) and that left as a result not only the loss of human lives, but forced this hotel chain to assume important legal and economic consequences.
Was it feasible to know that these events were going to happen? Of course not... Can measures be taken so that they are not repeated anywhere in the world? Of course! Given the current criminal modalities and the level of insecurity experienced in the world, effective measures must be taken to protect people and institutions.
Effects of intrusion
Speaking of the merely physical intrusion (it can also be cybernetic), the consequences of this type of event are not only on the emotional plane, but also on the economic, will it be that the regular customers of the Las Vegas hotel will feel calm to stay there after the aforementioned event? Not surprisingly, some financial analysts determined that demand in the Las Vegas market would fall between 4% and 6% after that act of terrorism.
If added to this, we think that an organization invests time, money and a lot of effort in consolidating its brand and in just one second, all this can be brought down by facts such as those mentioned above, then it is clear that forceful measures must be taken, more if it is taken into account that any company can be a victim of these intrusions.
Risks at all levels
Weak protection exposes companies to dangerous situations that risk people's safety, for example, if they enter spaces where only authorized and trained personnel can be.
The risk can also be dimensioned to the assets of the company, which can be tangible -products or inputs- or intangible -information-, in any way they are valuable to the organization, so it is important to control access to these goods so that they do not fall into the hands of unauthorized people.
And it is that this issue is so relevant that even the operations of a company can be interrupted when an unauthorized person enters the building, so much so, that in some cases physical access control is a requirement for a company to operate, having to present proof of compliance with said requirements when an audit is presented.
Possible solutions
In my experience I can say that, pointing out physical intrusions, conventional revolving doors cannot provide the sufficient level of security that is required to prevent the company from being affected at different levels.
Given this scenario, it is vital that companies ask themselves these three questions to define the step to follow in terms of the solution to be implemented to shield themselves against the aforementioned risks: How vulnerable is your organization to a potential intrusion? What are the potential costs your company would have to bear if an unauthorized person enters the building? And if these costs are not acceptable, what commitments, in terms of budget and processes, is your organization willing to make to limit its vulnerability to intrusions?
After answering these questions, you will find that in the market there are options such as access control systems, doors with electronic locks and security cameras, among other options. The problem with these methods is that they have critical weaknesses and that is why their performance is limited.
However, there is currently a team that is recognized as the most effective at controlling the number and direction of people crossing through an entry point. These are the security entrances, which offer multiple security possibilities such as separate flow of users (visitors and employees), individualization of the identity of each person who crosses the door and clarity on whether said subject entered alone, this in order to prevent sensitive areas from being victims of intrusion.
While it is true that these security entrances offer a wide range of styles, costs and methods of operation, they all share the same basis: the purpose of creating a barrier that prevents unauthorized passage, while facilitating entry to accredited users.
The important thing in these cases is to go to a trained provider to guide you in deciding which is the security door that best suits your needs. For example, in Boon Edam we have a wide range of devices that provide different alternatives (including data analysis) that are highly effective when it comes to controlling user access to a building.
In addition, we offer clients a group of advisors fully empowered to guide the process of acquiring the ideal security door.
To think
Feeling of vulnerability, economic losses, severe traumas, frustration, anxiety and restlessness are some of the effects suffered by the victims of an intrusion and although as the adage says: "Nobody chastises someone else's head", in this case it is essential to take into account what happened in the world and take preventive measures that prevent similar events from happening in our company. Thus, investing in a security gateway would not be a bad investment for any organization that is looking to efficiently control access to any point of its infrastructure ... Or is it?
*Magdalena Reyes is a Business Developer at Boon Edam for Mexico.
