Security Has Always Had The Same Problem!

Security Has Always Had The Same Problem...

Today, with the internet the lifeline of many businesses you could imagine, security is the “in thing”, corporate security is the fashionable place to work. Security professionals have waited a long time to see this momentous happening. I do not doubt that security has been around the business world for many years but has not been taken seriously and complacency has led many companies to disregard it completely. Unfortunately security has always had, and still has, one big challenge and that is people.

Whether we are talking about the age old security issue with a safe and a combination lock that is written down on a piece of paper and the secretary discovered the secret combination that can unlock the safe. Or the plain old leaving the door unlocked kind of security, it all boils down to people power. Yes people have the power to wreak havoc on any security infrastructure that is put into place. Why not consider the fantastic idea of a security card that you swipe in order to gain entrance to a building you work at. Well, in reality, forget using that card when you have a considerate employee who is willing to hold the door open for you as you wait patiently behind him as he swipes his security card. He may not even know you but it is polite to let you in. Never mind the fact that you should not be in the building as you have no security card but would like to gain some information for your own purposes. Your quest was made every so easy by the lack of security awareness by a very polite employee.

Let’s not forget the internal security at organizations, and in my experience the ones who actually should be security savvy seems to be the least inclined to follow the rules. How about the white boards that have some juicy information scrawled on them? No point wiping them clean at the end of the day when you leave the office, only the cleaners will be in the building and they have no interest in the scribble on the whiteboards. Or the unlocked computers sitting at desks that are empty as employees are at lunch or meetings. It just so happens a clever reporter knows he can get swiped into a building by the very polite employee, and if he sits at the desk with the unlocked computer, he can find out some very interesting facts and figures. Security works really well, if only people did not mess up the grand plan. People are the problem, without people there would be no need of security.

My favourite is how easy it is to speak to the gatekeeper, as the new age name receptionists are now called, and simply ask for the head of security or whatever position you are interested in. It is amazing the amount of information that can be gained by one simple phone call from an unknown source. More recently, due to lack of interest or knowledge, credit card information and customer details have been stolen simply by sitting outside the building and finding an insecure wireless connection. My list goes on and on and it is hard not to laugh at how easy it is to help the bad guys and make their job so easy.