Based on recent reports, 75 percent of businesses in America were victims of cyberattacks during the last year for which information is available. That shows an uptick of 10 percent compared to the previous year, and the number of attacks has been growing steadily for quite some time now. Though many companies, and the security sector as a whole, focus largely on cybercrimes at this point, physical threats still deserve their fair share of attention. Research shows that 80 percent of businesses fall victim to these incidents annually, and they’ve increased by 25 percent over the last year alone.
Addressing Physical Security Issues
In light of those figures, addressing physical security issues is essential for today’s businesses. Numerous options are at their disposal from fairly simple solutions to highly advanced security measures. Take a look at some of the ways companies can ramp up their physical security to keep themselves and their employees safe.
Physical Access Control
Physical access control measures are crucial for keeping intruders at bay. They can also prevent would-be wrongdoers from gaining access to sensitive data and proprietary information. Beyond that, they can keep employees from accessing digital information they don’t need to see and potentially allowing it to fall into the wrong hands.
Traditional keyed locks are among the simplest but most effective solutions here. Key cards and RFID readers are a bit more advanced. They can prevent entry from the outside and keep unauthorized personnel from entering restricted areas of a business. Retina and fingerprint scanners and facial recognition software are a few of the solutions that take matters even further.
Video Surveillance
Video surveillance is no less important than it was in the past. In fact, it’s even more essential now with crimes being on the rise. Businesses can use it for numerous security purposes. It’s helpful for monitoring visitors and their activities. It’s also invaluable for keeping track of employees and their undertakings. It can help companies pinpoint suspicious behaviour, trace crimes to their sources, and even prevent incidents in many cases.
Some of the latest video surveillance systems can offer a variety of advanced features, including AI-powered facial and license plate recognition. They may have integral suspicious behaviour analytics and object and anomaly detection. These systems can be integrated with other security systems too for even more in-depth protection.
Security Guards
Security guards are equally important. Having them on-site often makes wrongdoers less likely to act and may make employees with ill intentions less likely to follow through with them. It can improve businesses’ incident response times as well. On top of that, security guards can protect employees against physical violence. They can keep a variety of threats at bay from break-ins and vandalism to unauthorized access and attacks on employees, especially when they have received proper security guard training.
Keeping Businesses Safe from Physical Threats
Though cybercrimes are on the rise, physical threats are also becoming more prominent. Paying attention to those risks is the key to developing an effective, well-rounded security system. Access control, video surveillance, and security guards are crucial measures in this regard. Numerous other solutions are also available to businesses that want to bolster their physical security.
