Even if you don’t invite clients into your office, you may still invite the occasional visitors in.
They could be a handyman, someone going for a job interview or even a fellow company owner who you work closely with.
Whilst you may know and trust many of these people, others could be security risks without you even realising. Burglars don’t always intrude your premises whilst no-one is in – others are more sneaky and may pose as visitors, perhaps even having other jobs on the side, whilst secretly trying to gain access to your most private details including company secrets and data passwords.
If you think visitors could be a security risk to your business, here are some measures that you could put in place to make your premises less vulnerable.
Restrict certain areas
Restricting certain areas could be a way of preventing visitors from accessing things you might not want them to access. This could involve added in a coded door or you could simply put a sign up to warn visitors away. Consider having a special lobby area where clients can go. Not all offices will be large enough for this, in which case you may be better off arranging to meet clients in a coffee bar or restaurant.
Consider having a special lobby area where clients can go. Not all offices will be large enough for this, in which case you may be better off arranging to meet clients in a coffee bar or restaurant.
Keep safes out of sight
When people see a safe, they know that it contains something valuable. Having a safe in plain sight can be a way of advertising to burglars – they may not try to access it there and then, but it may plant the seed for a future burglary.
Consider hiding your safe in your office somewhere such as under a desk or in a cupboard where visitors can’t see it. Safes that are fixed to a wall are far more secure as they can’t be carried off. You can buy these from companies such as Secure Safe.
Give visitors ID passes
By giving visitors ID passes, it makes it easy to spot someone in your office who shouldn’t be there. This can be useful for big offices where all your staff may not be informed of every individual visitor. You can order such cards from CLC and other design companies. Make sure that you have a registration process in place so that every visitor is checked in and checked out.
Make sure that you have a registration process in place so that every visitor is checked in and checked out.
Don’t publicly display passwords and codes
Keeping track of lots of passwords can be complicated. However, you should be wary of displaying a password list on a wall that visitors may be able to see (and potentially take a quick snap of with their phone camera).
Store password lists digitally if you have to, although it’s best if you can not have a password list at all.
Contributors
