Pip Courcoux, Sales and Product Manager - CLIQ® Systems at Abloy UK explains how not all locks are created equal, and asks “do you take security seriously?”
While businesses continue to strengthen their resolve and invest resources to protect against the increasing range of cyber threats, it’s very easy to overlook or underestimate the importance of physical protection, especially locks.
If you buy and install a system that combines software and physical locks, the most intelligent of software is useless if the lock can be manipulated with a paper clip, and it’s surprising how many can!
Specifiers should never assume that an excellent access control software system will be supported with excellent physical locks - it’s time to get serious about security.
Continuation of services is a critical issue for businesses - especially national infrastructure organisations - and although great emphasis is placed on online security, the importance of physical security measures should not be underestimated, as controlled access of personnel is vital to protect areas and valuable assets.
For example, security hardware in Data Centres must comply with ISO 27001, which ensures physical security processes are enforced consistently and audits are conducted regularly at each site, including tests of security. Areas that need to be considered include buildings, equipment and perimeter protection.
Trusted and tested hardware
To ensure security of assets at the most basic level, it’s essential that hardware such as padlocks and cylinders can be relied upon to protect against attack. While European Standards provide an entry level for protection, in reality they exist to create a fair and even playing field for products distributed throughout the EU in a more general sense.
An example of this is the
European Standards for Cylinders and Padlocks. Although they test suitably for
durability and attack, they do not provide any testing for manipulation, and when
looking for physical security, product specifiers should review more specific certification
– such as LPS 1654 and security + rating.
LPS 1654 from the Loss
Prevention Certification Board (LPCB) tests the resilience and performance of
padlocks. LPS 1654 with security + rating is seen as the ultimate test for
padlocks incorporating the most stringent physical attack tests, intentionally
designed to meet the security needs of the UK Infrastructure.
Maintenance and repair teams also need dependable locks that not only resist malicious attack, but enable access for their staff in some of the most extreme environments.
Natural forces – whether that’s storms and salt erosion from the sea, burning sun, biting frost or desert sand and dust – subject high security installations in a range of sectors to extreme stress, so it’s vital the hardware is reliable in these environments too.
Key control
Control of key management is also crucial for any security system, as lost or stolen keys can put a business at great risk. It can be an extremely expensive issue to rectify, can result in lost revenue and seriously damage an organisation’s reputation.
Changing business needs mean that traditional Master Key systems are limited in flexibility. This is especially true and problematic for organisations that have a vast number of remote sites with contractors requiring ad hoc access and need to avoid conflicts of access for contractors and staff.
A secure combination
To ensure assets are effectively protected, a combination of high quality secure hardware, flexible key management and user friendly digital management system is ideal. Abloy’s PROTEC2 mechanism has never been picked or bumped, and when used in conjunction with CLIQ® web management software, this offers the ultimate secure access control solution.
CLIQ® is based on mechanical high security disc mechanism combined with highly encrypted electronic locking and identification. The system allows for remote key management, providing comprehensive audit trails on door cylinders and padlocks and the ability to electronically remove lost or stolen keys from the system, meaning security can be confidently maintained in circumstances where a key has been misplaced.
As well as complete usage audits, flexibility to approve and revoke access permissions anytime from anywhere, CLIQ® can also be integrated with existing operating and management systems such as Permit To Work, Telemetry, Command and Control and SCADA.
The CLIQ® online key uses Bluetooth low energy technology, enabling users to update keys through an App on their smartphone. The connectivity provides a real time audit trail on non-wired products across Abloy’s full range of cylinders and padlocks, and access rights can be granted to the user ‘on-site’.
But it’s not all about the added value that CLIQ® software provides. Abloy has a legacy of reliability, providing customers with trusted solutions and services that are tried and tested beyond certified requirements, to perform and protect under in the harshest of conditions.
In this era of technological advances, it’s important to not forget the basics - and to take physical security seriously. Not all locks are created equal, and should there be an issue with a system’s connectivity, there is peace of mind to be gained from knowing your assets will still remain secure with high quality hardware in place.
