Some might say that last year was an improvement compared to 2020 but was still fairly thin on good news. There were, however, a few crumbs of it, like the fact that rates of theft dropped. Both the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) of September 2021 and police recorded data showed decreases in most forms of theft including burglary and shoplifting.
These decreases were, however, believed to have been largely attributable to the ongoing COVID19 restrictions. Now that these are being removed, it’s crucial that businesses prepare for a return of the usual security issues. If they don’t, then they could face even more of an uphill struggle to get back to business as usual.
Here, ISET Solutions, specialists in home security and automation share their tips on how you can help your business.
Reassess your risks and your defences
The term risk assessment is slightly misleading. Risk assessments are about more than just assessing what risks you face. They’re also about making sure that you’re addressing them in the most effective way.
Traditional defences such as metal shutters definitely have a place in the modern world. At the same time, however, it makes sense to leverage technology as much as you can. Using technology can help SMEs to implement a high level of security on a relatively low budget.
Leveraging technology can also help to reduce the level of inconvenience caused by security measures. For example, access fobs are much easier to use than traditional keys but are also more secure. This is because they can be cancelled immediately if lost or stolen (or if an employee leaves the company with them).
Secure your perimeter
This is arguably the most basic lesson in security and probably always will be. The easiest way to stop trouble is to prevent it from getting started. The easiest way to prevent it from getting started is to keep it outside your property.
What this means in practice is going to depend very much on the nature of your property. In some cases, it will mean high walls with security gates (preferably remote-operated ones). In others, it will mean security doors and shutters with robust locks.
In most cases, it will mean CCTV. This does have GDPR implications, but these are usually fairly straightforward to manage with a bit of forethought. A lot of modern CCTVS rely on an internet connection. This means that in addition to thinking about protecting the cameras themselves, you will need to think about protecting your internet connection.
It’s also worth noting that cameras only work if there is light (unless you buy special night-vision cameras). This shouldn’t be a problem as you should have already ensured sufficient light for health and safety reasons. It is, however, advisable to double-check. Likewise, CCTV cameras need a clear view to be effective, so you will need to remove any obstructions.
Focus on your staff
If you’re an employer, you have a duty of care towards your staff. As a business owner, you have a duty to recognise that your staff can be a threat to your security. You also have a duty to recognise that this can be through ignorance as well as through malice.
Fortunately, the main way to protect against all of these threats is to apply robust access controls. This starts by clearly delineating public and private areas. Even if your business is not open to the public in general, you will almost certainly have some third parties on-site from time to time. You need to ensure that they stay in designated areas.
If your business is open to the public in general, then you need to make it very clear which areas are public, and which are private. In some businesses, clear signage may be enough. For most businesses, however, it’s preferable to use physical barriers as much as possible. Something as straightforward as poles and ropes are harder to ignore (or miss) than signage.
Many businesses will benefit from zoning private spaces and hence applying access controls at a more granular level. Depending on the nature of your business, you may want to keep certain areas off-limits to all but designated employees. Alternatively, you may simply want a credible record of who, was, where and when.
Keep track of your equipment and inventory
The first thing to understand is what your business keeps stock of. This means that you need up-to-date records of your equipment and inventory. If you’re a very small business, then keeping manual records may be fine. They’re certainly better than nothing.
Even for the smallest businesses, however, manual records have a lot of drawbacks. The main ones are that they are cumbersome and susceptible to human error. If you’re keeping paper records, then you also have to think about physical damage. Modern asset-tracking and inventory-keeping solutions are both more efficient and more convenient.
Be smart about technology
Physical security and digital security are now closely linked. This means that a compromise in one area can lead to a compromise in the other. Modern businesses need to stop thinking in terms of “IT security” and start thinking in terms of “cybersecurity”. This is because many, if not most, internet-linked devices are outside the scope of traditional IT.
In simple terms, any device labelled “smart” is able to go online and is, therefore, a potential cybersecurity risk. Even if a device is not labelled smart, it may still be able to go online and hence be a potential security risk. For example, wireless printers are networked devices and therefore can be hacked.
Theoretically, businesses can get around this problem by avoiding using these devices. If you take this approach, however, you will lose out on a lot of functionality and convenience. In fact, your caution may end up costing you money. For most companies, it’s far better to use these items responsibly and with due regard to security.
Remember paper still matters
It’s likely to be a long time before the world goes truly paperless (if it ever does). Until then, remember to dispose of your paper waste responsibly. That means properly shredding anything sensitive before recycling it.
If your business really does only generate a minimal amount of paper, then shredding it yourself may be fine. If, however, you need to shred a larger quantity of paper, then using a third-party shredding service is likely to be a better option.
David Prior
David Prior is the editor of Today News, responsible for the overall editorial strategy. He is an NCTJ-qualified journalist with over 20 years’ experience, and is also editor of the award-winning hyperlocal news title Altrincham Today. His LinkedIn profile is here.
