Access Control

Protective systems should always be developed for specific assets.  The goal of security is to protect facilities and buildings and the assets contained inside.  For the purpose of protecting functional areas, assets may include:
 

• People
• Communication and electronics equipment
• Facilities-engineering supplies and construction materials
• Critical infrastructure and high value locations
• Industrial and utility equipment
• Sensitive information

The approach to developing protective measures should be based on a systematic process resulting in an integrated system.  The protective system focuses on protecting specific assets against well-defined threats.  The system is organized in-depth and contains mutually-supporting elements coordinated to prevent gaps or overlaps in responsibilities and performance.

These mutually supporting elements would integrate the following:
 

• Physical protective measures, including barriers, lighting and electronic security systems
• Procedural security measures, including those in place before an incident and those employed in response to an incident
• Terrorism counteraction measures that protect assets against terrorist attacks

When considering security system development procedures, the following determinations should be made:
 

• The resources available
• The assets to be protected
• The threat to those assets
• The risk levels applicable to those assets
• The applicable regulatory requirements for protecting the assets
• The applicable level of protection for those assets against the threat, and
• Additional vulnerabilities to the assets(based on the threat).

When vulnerabilities have been identified, protective measures must be identified to mitigate them.  Mitigation may include protective barriers, fencing, lighting, closed-circuit television(CCTV), guard force, and other emerging technologies.

The combination of effective access controls, surveillance, physical security measures and visitor identification and protocols will enable organizations to achieve a high level of control throughout the facility.