What Are the Essentials for Physical Access Control Security?

Access control security means restricting authorization of accessing an area to a certain number of people. Access control systems define the authorization of employees or visitors only to the places the administrator deems necessary. These systems help in securing important data and equipment like servers and computers, confidential information like files and folders with important paperwork, and the privacy of workers at the premises. All organizations are to some degree or the other, vulnerable to physical security threats. We tend to focus so much on the external physical risks that we sometimes overlook the significance of defending ourselves from internal threats as well. With this in mind, access control security should be one of the priorities on any employer’s list.

Critical Access Control Security Measures

A few decades ago, physical security was thought of as having security guards stationed outside the vulnerable area and installing multiple locks to further discourage breaking and entering. With the times, physical assets have developed and become more sensitive in terms of storing information, so now we need a more developed access control security system than ever. Along with mechanical security measures, technology-oriented door access systems and employee attendance systems are also extremely necessary to have a comprehensive security plan in place. Nevertheless, let’s look at security measures classified into separate categories to understand their magnitude:

Perimeter security

Perimeter security includes the outermost wall/layer that separates an area from the outside world. For example, in a corporate park with several buildings, the walls that encircle the entire complex into one single area will be considered as the perimeter. Besides the regular objectives, these main entry/exit points allow access for a wide variety of purposes like delivery, visitation, etc. Therefore, it is important that these gates should be monitored with multiple access control security systems like surveillance cameras, fencing and barriers, motion detectors, RFID access control systems, biometric access control systems, and so on.

Building/Workspace security

In an office building, there are hundreds of employees working in different departments with different authorizations. There are also many visitors coming in and out of the building. It is usually difficult to verbally or manually restrict access to certain places or verify access every single time. So, to enable freedom of movement with error-free security in place, RFID access control systems like card/tag readers and biometric access control systems for employees like fingerprint attendance machines and face attendance machines should be installed.

Security for Visitor Areas

Areas like the visitor lounge or waiting area and cafeteria are frequented by people who do not regularly access your building. Therefore, their credentials aren’t stored in your systems, and it seems to be an unnecessary piling of data to store a visitor’s information permanently. For access control security for such areas at the workplace, visitor management system along with a temporary door access system and RFID access control should be implemented to monitor visitor activity and have logs in the system.

Security for High-Risk Areas

High-risk areas are those that store sensitive information and equipment that is at risk of being stolen or damaged, for example, the server room, or the research and development area. Office cabins of the leading members of the organization are also limited-access zones. Here, just one method of access control is not enough. Multi-factor authentication should be deployed in such areas like fingerprint attendance machine or face attendance machine combined with RFID access control mechanism. These can be implemented not only for the entrance but also inside the room to further secure a smaller safe or vault.

Advantages of a Good Physical Access Control System

The right kind of access control security system for your organization should be a combination of physical, technological, and personnel-enabled systems. One should not be completely reliant on one single method of security as people with malicious intents try very hard to find loopholes in order to intrude on your premises. Having layers of physical security can discourage these attempts to a great extent.