Security Risk Assessment

It’s obvious that your building may have security vulnerabilities if you do not have a security system. What’s not obvious is that buildings with alarm systems may still have major security vulnerabilities.

Whether you have a security system or not, your facility probably has potential security vulnerabilities that put your company’s employees, assets, and/or intellectual property at risk.

1. Does your building have signs posted for no trespassing, no weapons, etc.?
   Not letting the public know that you do not allow trespassing, weapons, solicitors, etc. opens your facility to all kinds of potential danger. It also limits potential legal action that you can take.
2. Does your building have signage that identifies it clearly and correctly for responding emergency personnel?
   If an incident occurs in your building or on your property, it is imperative that emergency are able to find you to resolve the situation.
3. Does your buildings have any entries open to the public?
   Public entries make it difficult to regulate whether a person is allowed in the building or not, especially if random people are constantly coming and going. This causes potential risk for employees during business hours.
4. Does your building have any reserved parking spaces with names on them?
   While there is nothing wrong about rewarding success with reserved parking, putting an employee’s name on a parking space lets criminals know exactly where to find an employee’s car and where that employee will be after the office closes.
5. Is any part of your property fenced?
   While fencing may deter and impede some criminals, it often creates a false sense of security. Fencing is easily overcome and very difficult to properly secure.
6. Does your building currently have an alarm system?
   Having an alarm system is essential in properly securing your building.
7. Is there sufficient lighting at night to deter criminal activity?
   Sufficient lighting is essential for a safe environment. It is not only common sense, it’s a proven fact. A report from the Data Science for Social Good fellowship showed that crime goes up 7% when the lights are not working properly.
8. Is there any landscaping that provides criminals a place to hide?
   While landscaping may look pretty, it is also potentially dangerous. What is more important…the safety of your company’s employees and customers or a nicely trimmed row of hedge bushes that are improperly placed?
9. Is there anything that makes it easy to get on the roof? (i.e. ladders, trees, downspouts, fences)?
   Criminals often use these to gain access to rooftop air conditioners and to get an unconventional entry into your building through the roof.
10. Does your building have a marked shipping and receiving area?
    These areas create heavy traffic which makes it difficult to regulate who is in your building. It is very easy for unwanted persons to slip in while the truck is being loaded! Criminals know this and often target these areas. Not marking the area helps reduce risk, but does not eliminate it.
11. Are there trash dumpsters located near the shipping area?
    Shipping areas create heavy traffic which makes it difficult to regulate what is going on. Trash dumpsters are where employees can throw anything away, so seeing items in there rarely raises eye brows. A disgruntled employee can easily sneak something out through the busy shipping area during work hours and keep it in the trash dumpster, where they can pick it up later.
12. Does your building have any roof vents or skylights?
    Removing easy access to your roof deters criminals, but it does not stop them. In fact, nothing is stopping criminals from bringing their own ladder to gain access to your building through a roof vents or skylights. They are often unsecured and easily broken into.
13. Does your building have concrete posts installed to prevent vehicles from ramming doors?
    Criminals often use vehicles to gain entry into buildings by driving into them. Not protecting against this puts both your employees and customers in danger of being injured if this occurs during business hours. It gives the criminal access to the building if it happens after hours.
14. Does your building use metal keys?
    Metals keys get lost, are hard to track and are easily copied. This causes obvious security risks. Do you have to go through the expensive process of rekeying every time an employee leaves?