Business Security Information

If your business uses security cameras, recording is essential.  The recorded security camera feed can be used for a variety of purposes, especially after a business has been burglarized or robbed.  Currently, most businesses use a DVR (digital video recorder) to record their security cameras, but some still use time-lapsed VCR.  No matter which method you use to record your security cameras, what will prevent the criminal from taking the video tape or the DVR’s hard drive when they burglarize or rob your business?  If there is nothing to stop the criminal from taking the recorded security camera video, you should consider the use of lock boxes.

Just last month I wrote an article on “Choosing a Secure Web Browser” after a recent attack using vulnerabilities in the Internet Explorer 6 (IE) web browser.   In that article, I stated that security researchers and some governments were recommending that people change to a different web browser or at least upgrade to IE8 (you can read the full article using the above link).  Just this weekend, a couple of other security researchers announced another vulnerability involving IE web browsers including IE8.  This vulnerability was confirmed on Monday by Microsoft.  The question now is whether to wait for a patch from Microsoft or to change web browsers?  Let’s look at the highlights of the vulnerability to determine the right answer for you and your business.

When you look at the desktops, laptops and other devices in your business, do you realize the number and variety of software applications running on these devices?  Applications include Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash, Microsoft Office, off-the-shelf accounting software, and other similar types of applications.  Beyond these normal applications found on most computers, custom applications may also be used in your business such as credit card processing, accounting or other business-oriented software applications.  Most business owners and managers do not realize the number and variety of applications running on the computers they use.  Studies have shown that businesses spend most of their security efforts updating and securing the computer’s operating systems and not the software applications.

It seems no matter where I go I run into security issues.  It was no different recently when I took a trip to another state and stayed in a hotel.  The hotel belongs to a national chain and is located in a major city in Ohio.  Obviously, just because a hotel is well-known and located where you think security would be evaluated more closely does not mean this is always the case.  This article is mainly geared towards those who own a hotel or travel a lot for their job.

This week I stopped by what use to be an auto dealership in a city near where I live and saw some examples of good and bad security that I thought I would share with you in this post.  While there, I took some pictures to illustrate what I saw.  If you look closely at these pictures, you will see that the business installed a metal barrier which  prevents vehicles or other equipment from easily being taken from the lot.  It is a simple design of steel piping that is secured in the ground with the openings to the lot being protected by a sliding gate made from the same material.  The steel posts in the ground are close enough that even if the top steel piping was removed, it would not allow a vehicle to be driven between the steel pipes.  Not placing posts close enough together is a major problem in most dealership lots I have evaluated.  The pictures show a good example of how to do it right without making the barrier an eyesore.  In addition, the business secured the steel piping in the ground with concrete and even formed a raised concrete lip, making it difficult to remove individual steel piping from the ground even with the right type of heavy equipment.  Please note:  this type of lot protection is good when you are trying to prevent theft of vehicles or equipment, but additional security is required if you are trying to protect against parts theft.

Well it has been an eventful week and I wanted to apologize to our readers for the issues we have had with the website this week.  The first issue was on Monday with the web server, run by the hosting company we use, having to be taken down due to an emergency with the server’s file system.  This resulted in the site being down for a number of hours and then when we got back on-line we found out that the database was corrupted and needed to be repaired.  So all of this resulted in our website being down for almost half a day.  Then on Wednesday the web hosting company we use had to take the server down, for a little over an hour, to make some adjustments to the server.  I think the adjustments to the server were related to Monday’s file system incident.  Overall, this resulted in us being off-line for a number of hours this week.

While trying to catch up on some of my reading this week, I came across an article from the December 14, 2009 edition of Forbes magazine which discussed computer-controlled vending.  A vending machine is equipped with an add-on box which captures all the transactions and transmits the information back to the company.  The boxes can also send an e-mail or text message when a vending machine sells out of an item.  This type of electronic device saves the vending company money in lower fuel costs and more efficient use of their manpower.  If you are interested in learning more, you can check out the website for Cantaloupe Systems .

I have written numerous articles covering the different elements and aspects of security, but one issue I have never touched on is the importance of having quality information to make good security decisions for your business.  Quality or complete information is key to any business decision including security issues, but most businesses fail to track security incidents or issues at their company.  I have worked with a lot of small and medium-sized businesses over the years, and I have not run into one yet who does.

A couple of weeks ago I went with my family to get some pizza.  It was one of those day we had been rushing around and just wanted to get some good hot food, so pizza it was.  Like most food service businesses, this one had a security camera system that was visible as soon as you walked into the store.  While I was standing there waiting for our pizza, I started looking at the positioning of the security cameras.  What I noticed was that the security cameras covered the cash registers and other employee work areas, but the camera system did not cover the customer area in front of the checkout area.  With this positioning of the cameras, their purpose seemed to be just to monitor employees work and to address internal theft issues.

If you have not already heard, in mid-January Internet Explorer was under attack by the same attack method that was used by the Chinese to break into Google’s network.  Since then, a number of security researchers, security companies ,and even some governments have recommended that computer users switch to other web browsers such as Firefox, Chrome, Opera and Safari.  Currently, it appears the attack code is mainly geared towards IE (Internet Explorer) 6 and possible IE 7 so businesses that are still using IE 6 should change to another web browser or at least upgrade to IE 8.