Are you planning CCTV/video surveillance at your place? Everyone tells that they are experts in CCTV cameras installation these days. For example:
Security System Integrators.
Local CCTV Suppliers/Installers.
Electrical Contractors/Electricians.
Computer Repair & Services.
Interior Decoration Dealers.
But who are experts actually?
In the above list, the Security System integrators are only qualified to do the job correctly because it is their specialization.
Knowing how to install CCTV does not mean that they understand security design methodologies.
What is the purpose of installing CCTV cameras in the first place?
To protect your valuables, right?
Our on-site assessments brought out some of the craziest design faults. For example, a local CCTV installer designed the storage system in an unsecured zone, which gives easy access to the bad guy to destroy your CCTV system quickly.
If the price is the only factor that you decide, you better do not purchase.
If you make your purchase decision based on only at a low cost, you will only get cheap service.
Security is all about quality, whether it is design or response.
No quality, no protection.
If the budget is a prime concern, you better decide on less quantity and more quality rather than more quantity and less quality.
If you go cheap, you will face the following problems:
If you choose the local installers/distributors/technicians/electricians, you will not only waste your money but also the installed system does not protect your assets.
And the worst part is if you choose cheap equipment due to budget limit, no one provides service support to your CCTV system if it does not work. Because the maintenance cost of cheap equipment will be more.
The trend has been that those companies/vendors who operated at low cost have suffered losses and closed their businesses within 2 Years due to loss. This will be a huge replacement cost for you.
If you want to avoid the above headache, it is better to choose professional security solutions providing companies.
Corp Security Solutions is a Security Risk Consulting Company & Expert Security System integrator.
The benefits you will get are risk-based security planning, professional CCTV design, installation& service. Also, you will get onsite support and assistance through AMC or On-Call.
The design of effective physical security system requires a methodological approach. An effective physical security system integrates people, procedures, and technology for protection of the assets against thefts, sabotage, and malicious human attacks.
Hence, the designer or security director should weigh the objectives of the physical security system clearly against available resources and then evaluate the proposed design to ascertain how well it meets the objectives of the security program.
Comprehensive security risk assessment is the key
A comprehensive security risk assessment is essential prior to design the effective physical security system. The PSS (Physical Security System) might waste valuable capital on unnecessary protection or fail to provide sufficient protection at critical points of the facility if a comprehensive security risk assessment is not carried out.
For instance, it is probably imprudent to protect employee recreation area with the same level of protection that a data center may require. Similarly, maximum security at the main entrance would waste if the entry could also possible from other unprotected points.
As each facility is unique, a proper security risk assessment that evaluates the criticality of assets, threats, vulnerabilities will give a clear picture of risk exposure that gives a baseline for effective physical security system design.
Focus on Performance not on features:
Another important thing to keep in mind is a performance based system design is always effective than compliance or features based system. Because performance-based system design provides clear performance measures that can be validated with numeric characteristic for various system components.
For instance, a Performance based system design allows predicting performance against identified threat in various system effectiveness parameters. In this, we can assess sensors effectiveness under various environmental conditions, video clarity at different illuminating conditions, the response time of guard force etc.
This performance-based system is also quite helpful to build the business case to persuade the business leaders to by highlighting clear cost benefit analysis.
Design Basis Threat:
An effective PSS design should have a process that produces the design as per DBT (Design Basis Threat) and not on mere assumptions or experience of the individual designing the system.
Even though there are a number of security risk assessment and system design methodologies available to adapt, the following 3-step methodology suggested by Mary Lynn Garcia was proven its effectiveness over 3 decades at the critical installations.
1. Determining PSS objectives
2. Design or characterization of PSS
3. Analysis and Evaluation of PSS
1. Design Physical Security System Objectives:
In order to develop the objectives, the designer must accomplish three steps. Those are Facility Characterization, Threat Definition, and Target Identification.
a. Facility Characterization:
It this step, the designer needs to understand the facility itself. He or she needs to assess the facility operations, conditions, operating states and the entire layout of the facility such as site boundary, building location, building interiors floor plans, access points, blueprints, process descriptions, health, safety and environmental analysis reports etc.
Then he or she also needs to assess any additional considerations for any operational, safety, legal liability or regulatory requirements while designing PSS.
In addition, a tour of the sites and interviews with the facility personnel will provide necessary info on the effectiveness of any existing physical protection features.
Involving all-important stakeholders is also necessary for ensuring the business operations are continued in a secure, safe and efficient environment. As each facility is unique, this process should be followed each time a need is identified.
b. Threat Definition:
The second step in determining the objectives is to define the threat. In this step, the designer needs consider the factors about potential adversaries, their class, capabilities and a range of tactics.
He or she must collect information about the adversary Class, Tactics, and Capabilities.
The classes of adversary:
An adversary can be categorized into three classes – outsiders, insiders and outsiders working in collusion with insiders.
Tactics of adversary:
Adversary can use deceit, stealth, force, or any of the combination is the range of tactics each class of adversary can use to defeat PSS. For instance, Deceit is an attempt to defeat a security system by using false authorization or identification. Stealth is an attempt to defeat a security system by using covert means. (Spoofing or bypassing a sensor). Force is an overt, forcible attempt to overcome a security system,
Capabilities of adversary:
The designer needs to identify the most likely threats and should design the system to meet those threats by the keeping their capabilities in consideration. For instance, there may be several threats, any given facility can encounter, such as a criminal outsider, disgruntled employee, competitors or some combination. Hence, an effective physical security system must be designed to protect against all of these threats.
c. Target Identification:
The final step is to perform target identification for the facility. For, this A thorough review of the facility and its assets should be conducted. This may include identifying critical assets, people, information or critical equipment or processes or reputation anything that could impact business operations.
For instance, Determining the negative impact or unacceptable consequence in the event of loss of an asset or sabotage of an equipment or interruption of a business process will help identify critical assets, or equipment, or process that needs to be protected.
Once the designer completes these three steps, he can determine the protection objectives of the physical security system. For example, to intercept a criminal adversary with hand tools and a vehicle before he removes finished goods from the shipping dock.
The threat definition will depend on target identification and vice versa. Since any facility can have any number of threats, the process of determining objectives will be somewhat recursive and requires assessing the complex relationships among the protection system objectives.
2. Design Physical Security System:
Once the designer knows the objectives of PSS that is what to protect against whom, the next step is to design the new system or characterize the existing system.
The primary functions of a physical Security system are
· Detection of an adversary · Delay of that adversary · Response by security personnel (Guard Force)
If a new system is to be designed, the designer should better integrate PSS components (people, procedures, and technology) with PSS functions (detect, delay and response) to achieve PSS objectives.
The integration process includes better combining the elements such as barriers, intrusion detection systems, access control systems, video surveillance, communication devices, procedures, and security personnel into a physical security system that can achieve the protection objectives.
An effective PSS should meet protection objectives within the operational, safety, legal and economic constraints of the facility.
The designer should also be aware and implement certain important principles during the physical security design and the close associations between detection, delay, and response functions. For instance,
· A physical security system performs better if detection is as far as from the target as possible and delays are as near as the target.
· Detection without assessment is not detection.
· A response Force cannot respond unless it receives a communication call for a response.
The designer should integrate each system component in combinations that complement each other to protect any weaknesses in the overall PSS.
If the Physical security system already exists, it must be characterized to establish whether it is meeting the protection objectives. If not, it needs to be redesigned.
3. Analysis and Evaluation of PSS:
Once the PSS is designed, it must be analyzed and evaluated to ensure that it is meeting the physical security objectives. To estimate the minimum performance levels achieved by a physical security system more sophisticated qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques can be used.
Generally, quantitative analysis will be used in systems that are designed to protect high-value critical assets and qualitative techniques used in systems that are designed to protecting lower value assets. In order to complete a quantitative analysis, performance data must be available for the system components.
The outcome of this analysis process is a system vulnerability assessment which will find that the design effectively achieved the protection objectives or it will identify weaknesses.
If the protection objectives are achieved, then the design and analysis process completed. However, the PSS should be analyzed periodically to ensure that the original protection objectives remain valid.
If the PPS is found to be ineffective, the designer needs to redesign or upgrade the initial protection system design to correct the identified vulnerabilities. Then, an analysis of the redesigned system is performed. This cycle continues until the outcome indicates the PSS meets the protection objectives.
Personnel access control is a part of the access control system that validates the entry of authorized personnel into a controlled space such as an office building.
The system usually verifies your identity based on:
What you have,
What you know and,
What you are.
What you have: Having a valid credential such as ID cards issued by govt or your company or school.
What you know: Knowing the personal identification number (PIN) such as your password that you use to access your computer or email or bank account or even some restricted office spaces.
What you are: Your bio-metrics (unique physical characteristics of an individual) such as fingerprints and iris details, which are collected for issuing your Aadhaar card or passport.
What you are or biometrics are used when you need high levels of security.
Nowadays, everyone is installing CCTV cameras not only for their commercial properties but also for their residential properties. Because it seems everyone thinks installing CCTV cameras will protect their assets. Do CCTV cameras will really protect your assets?
Read the below story published in TOI about gold ornaments’ theft incidents in a jewelry showroom in which CCTV cameras did not prevent the theft.
AHMEDABAD: In yet another case of theft from a jewelry showroom, a man and a woman, aged around 25 years, along with a 4-year-old child, visited a store in the Panchvati area of the city as customers on October 24, saw some gold rings and later replaced a real gold ring worth Rs 36,574 with a fake one.
According to an FIR registered with Ellisbridge police, the couple had asked the staff to show some gold rings.
A staffer Zeel Padhiyar was showing them gold rings. At that time, they replaced the original gold ring weighing 740 milligrams with a fake one. The incident has been captured on CCTV.
The staffers came to know about the theft the next day. A police official said, “An employee went to the branch manager and told him that one of the gold rings is fake. After that, the branch manager checked CCTV footage and found that the family had stolen the gold ring.”
This is the second case of theft in the same jewelry showroom in recent times. On August 3, a woman, aged around 40, had visited the showroom, saw some gold bangles, and stole two gold bangles worth Rs 1.57 lakh.
When the Ellisbridge police were still unsuccessful to detect the case, another theft took place in the same showroom. Ellisbridge police again registered a case of theft and began an investigation into the issue.
In the above case, Did the CCTV really prevent theft? No.
Did CCTV work as a deterrent? No.
Did the CCTV record the incident? Yes…but, the business owner, had lost their assets and no guarantee police will trace them.
In addition to the loss of gold ornaments, the showroom has lost employee productivity and gained terrible publicity, which is detrimental to the business. Then have you ever puzzled what the actual use of CCTV cameras is?
In general, the CCTV cameras have three main uses in Physical Security System Design:
1. To know what is happening at the moment through live monitoring
2. To understand what has happened through video recording review (very helpful during incident investigations/periodic audits/law enforcement/court proceedings)
3. Act as a deterrence tool
The CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) cameras are one of the Electronic Security Measures in many physical security measures. The CCTV cameras in isolation cannot provide complete physical security protection.
How could the CCTV cameras have prevented the theft incident from happening in the jewelry showroom case?
1. The CCTV cameras need live monitoring by a dedicated security team/CCTV operations To prevent a theft incident from happening.
2. The recorded CCTV footage can be verified to know how an incident has occurred and only useful to investigate an incident. But this is not useful in the businesses where the value of assets is high such as the jewelry showrooms.
3. The CCTV cameras can deter the criminal – but does not work in case of a determined/organized criminal
What mistakes did the business owner make in this case?
• The jewelry store owner assumed that installing the CCTV can protect their assets.
• Perhaps he/she got their CCTV installation done by a CCTV supplier/Technician without understanding the actual security threats
• Did not carry out a site security assessment, which gives real security threats and recommendations of various mitigation measures along with CCTV cameras and exact location of where to install, what types of cameras, for maximum scene identification.
If your objective, like many businesses, is for loss prevention, you got to have a dedicated team to monitor the CCTV cameras without which it does not solve your problem. In the jewelry showroom theft incident, this is what exactly happened.
First, you got to understand why are you installing the CCTV cameras, whether to prevent an incident (high-value assets-needs ‘live monitoring of CCTV cameras), or to investigate (low-value assets).
Never get your CCTV cameras installed directly by the CCTV installers/equipment suppliers without a review by security experts. If you do, you will be another victim like the jewelry showroom owner.
Because the physical security system design is a specialist job, and only expert security professionals can do justice, not everyone.
Get your site physical security design/CCTV installation plan reviewed by our Security experts. Our security experts have internationally recognized credentials and decades of experience in Security Risk Management and provided security solutions to fortune 500 companies.
Remember! Your CCTV installation by the CCTV installers/equipment suppliers not only wastes your money but also does not solve your security problems.
Send us a message about your security needs to get “the industry best security solutions at optimal cost.”
Are you considering CCTV cameras at your facility to protect your properties? You must have CCTV cameras installed these days to protect your assets better.
CCTV cameras will help you in 3 ways. First, deter people with evil intent (those thieves who want to steal/cause to your property). Second, witness what is happening and third, help investigative agencies, like your internal security team/Facility team/Police authorities, to investigate any incident.
Well. You realized the importance of CCTV cameras and want to install some to protect your properties. Like all, you googled for CCTV Installers in your area, and google showed you many names. You picked the one with a good rating and then got CCTV cameras installed! Now, you assume that your properties are secure. Guess what!
Many times your CCTV cameras do not do the required job. Why?
Your local CCTV technician is not a Security Expert. He is just a technician who assembles the parts and makes the system work.
Your local CCTV supplier also not a Security Expert, and his objective is to sell you as much equipment as possible.
Neither your local CCTV technician nor CCTV supplier knows how to make a security plan. They are just cheating you if they say that they know how to make a security plan because a good security plan is developed only after a thorough security risk assessment.
Anybody, everybody cannot conduct a security risk assessment is not a general job. It is a specialist job, and only a few highly qualified security experts can do it.
How can a CCTV technician or local equipment supplier do a security risk assessment? Your CCTV installation, without review by security experts, is not going to meet your security objectives. You will get only a false sense of security.
Whom do you want to review your home design plan? An architect or construction labor. Of Couse! An architect
For your security plan, a security expert like an architect, the CCTV technician is like construction labor.
It is better to choose your CCTV installation wisely than to regret later. Also, remember cheap is not always the best. Look for the optimum cost. Not cheap!
Whom do you want to review your Security plan? A local technician / a CCTV equipment dealer or a Security Expert.
We, at Corp Security Solutions, do the best security risk assessments. We do not advise you about the number of cameras. We will develop a security plan based on actual risk and then suggest the optimal quantity of cameras along with other security measures. Because the CCTV cameras are just one type of security controls, not provide complete security protection.
The plan to fail is failing to plan. Goes famous saying. Poor planning before the purchase of CCTV surveillance devices waste not only your money but also the installed CCTV devices don’t do the required job.
Therefore, you must plan carefully before the purchase of a new system. “Cheap is not always the best.”
In this post, I am going to tell you some essential points, which will help you to do your job correctly.
Traditionally, patrolling security personnel of the security department carries out this surveillance part inside and outside of the premises. Their objective was to find out any signs of criminal activity or policy violations.
However, this method has its limitations as security personnel cannot be omnipresent. Even the security team response and intervention are limited to handling any trouble during that period.
With technological inventions in Electronic Security Systems, the CCTV became a sought after surveillance solution and proven to be cost-effective as compared to Security personnel.
Before installing CCTV cameras, you should know some basics.
You must plan carefully before the purchase of the CCTV system.
If you plan poorly, it will waste your money, and does not the required job.
1. Is the camera to be visible so that you can use as a deterrent to the crime or hidden so that you can use in civil or criminal prosecutions?
Most businesses would instead prevent a crime than going to the expense of prosecution. So most companies prefer to install cameras at visible locations.
Another disadvantage of installing cameras in hidden locations is the high cost. the
If you want to deter the crime, install visibly and want to prosecution install covertly.
2. What effect does the lighting have on the camera operation, especially the sunlight?
The light intensity will alter the picture quality of the camera.
As the sunlight varies during different times of the day, the light intensity also changes.
The changing of light intensity affect the excellent light conditions as the timing of the day changes.
So, make your CCTV system should have the settings to adjust for any changes in the light intensity.
3. Which is the best location for the camera?
The answer depends on the security assessment report/survey results.
For instance, in the banks, you can install the cameras where a customer does not immediately notice the camera. Also, where the subject must approach the camera directly.
However, it depends on your purpose and security needs. Only security experts can advise you better.
Here is where your intelligence comes in choosing a right CCTV installer which security management expertise than merely giving the job to local CCTV suppliers to install the cameras. Cheap is not always the best. Sometimes items cost you more.
4. What should the height of the camera be high or low?
Placing the camera at the high placement is not efficient as often thought to be.
The problem is you will not be able to recognize the person from the top, or high locations as the camera angle focuses on the top.
The right place is just high enough to prevent the camera from being tampered by curious observers.
5. What type of lighting is in use?
You must plan te CCTV camera system and the lighting in such a way that allows the most accurate recording details. For instance, sodium lights provide poor color accuracy, and LED will give the best lighting possible.
A security survey is essential to effective planning. This assessment is generally presented in the form of a diagram with the areas to be protected.
Also, this diagram gives you a visible layout of your site by showing the critical assets, and significant areas hat need CCTV coverage. Also, you should ensure coverage for blind spots in the design.
Do you want to design a robust CCTV security system design? Our Professional Security Consultants can help you do the job better, which rewards your business in the years to come.
