Business Security Information

Should you be concerned about using Facebook or other social networking sites?  While I do not use Facebook personally or for business, I have a lot of friends and relatives who do.  Unfortuately, in the past few months, Facebook has gotten a lot of attention due to a variety of scams and privacy issues experienced by those who use Facebook.

Having worked with small and medium-sized businesses for the past 12 years and being in business myself, I am always looking for sources of security information that will help businesses protect themselves.  Since business owners are often overwhelmed with their day-to-day duties, security is often one of those things that is put on the back-burner until some crime or security incident occurs.  Why is that?  Due to time resources?  Because it is hard to get good information to make the right decision regarding the type of protection you need?  Probably in most instances, if we are honest with ourselves, it is a little of both.  Research is time-consuming but necessary.

While putting gas in our vehicle today, I saw a simple security issue that probably occurs at a lot of businesses as well as gas stations.  This gas station was the typical type you find outside a supermarket or department store–gas pumps with a small structure in the middle for the cashier to handle customer who don’t pay at the pump.  The small cashier structure was bullet-resistant with a portal for customers to pass cash and credit cards safely to the cashier.  The one door to the structure was metal with a regular lock as well as a deadbolt.  I am presuming it was set up this way to prevent thefts and robberies.  In my opinion, the physical security was adequate for the location.

A survey came out this year covering the crimes that occur most often at hospitality businesses such as resorts, hotels, clubs, conferences, and other similar types of businesses.  It is always interesting to see what type of crime or security issues occur in general as well as to specific types of businesses.  Having this type of general and specific crime information makes it possible to better protect your business .

The following crimes and their percentage of occurrences were reported by the hospitality industry :

1. Larceny or Theft – 94%
2. Aggravated Assault – 39%

A little over a week a go, Microsoft announced that Windows could be attacked using a shortcut vulnerability that would allow attackers to infect a Windows computer with the use of a drive-by download attack.  You can read details of it on the Microsoft’s Security Advisory webpage.

Basically, Windows contains a flaw in how it handles shortcut files.  If an attacker creates a malicious shortcut file, the attacker can automatically execute malware whenever a user views the contents of a folder that contains the malicious shortcut file.

This summer, I helped a friend install a DVR (digital video recorder) for his business security camera system.  I also helped him configure the DVR and his network to allow remote viewing of the security cameras for him and a few key employees.  While helping him with this project, I realized how much physical security systems have changed over the past few years.  More and more of them are being manufactured with network capabilities with many of them being installed on the business network.

Businesses just like yours spend time, money and energy every day trying to protect their assets from a variety of security issues.  How do you know if you are expending that time, money and energy covering the right security issues?

This month I came across a survey of security directors from a variety of companies that covered the major security issues they face and the cost of security incidents when they did occur.  I will highlight some of that information in this article so you can see the type and cost of a variety of security issues.  You can use this information to evaluate if you are addressing the right security issues in your own business.  Here is the list of security issues based on the highest annual dollar losses to the lowest dollar losses:

When most companies think about disaster planning, a variety of thoughts come to mind.  Some businesses I have dealt with think about preparing for a natural disaster or a fire while others think about nothing but planning for an IT or network outage.  For the purpose of this article, I am referring to the planning for and recovery from a disaster.  This definition encompasses more than just the planning and recovery of IT services, infrastructure, data (information) and other technology resources of a company.  Disaster planning must include preparing for and recovering from the loss of human resources, such as key employees of a business, and other essential resources that allow a business to function.

If you are one of many types of businesses that sell or service vehicles, you should look at how you are storing keys for the vehicles you are servicing or selling.  Over the years, I have seen numerous dealerships and service centers that store keys like the company noted in the pictures.  As you can see from the pictures, the keys are just stored on a board-type key holder.  While I do not usually recommend the use of such a board because keys are easily accessible to anyone in the area, I want to focus on the more pressing security issue of the proximity of the keys to the entrance to the business.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article called “Bulletproof Enclosures” where I discussed movable bandit barriers or bulletproof enclosures.  Just today I read about a different but very similar type of robbery security measure called a security screen.  The concept is very similar to the movable bulletproof enclosure, but different in that it is a bullet-resistant metal wall.