Preventing unauthorised access to your business sites and ensuring you have a comprehensive understanding over the movement of your people across various areas of your organisation, forms a vital element of the security and well-being of your employees. With employees returning to offices more and more, being able to track who is leaving and entering your site is imperative.
Understanding the need for robust security is all well and good but without the appropriate systems and technology in place, organisations are still at risk of unacceptable security breaches. Lapses in security not only represent a threat to the safety of your people, it also opens organisations up to the threat of financial and legal penalties that come with breaches.
In this article, we will examine unauthorised access- what it means for businesses and the role that access control technology plays in affording organisations the peace of mind they need when it comes to the security and safeguarding of their people.
What is unauthorised access?
Unauthorised access describes the process by which an employee or member of the public can make entry onto a site or premises which should be restricted to them. These breaches commonly come in the form of:
- Using stolen or lost keys, security passes, or fobs
- Entering via an unlocked door
- Tailgating (following an authorised party through a security door or gate)
- Hacking smart keys
- Levering or breaking down a weak door
- Convincing an authorised party from inside the business to allow access
Businesses have a requirement to clearly demarcate unauthorised areas of access for their employees or members of the public through clear signage. Employees should also be made clear on the specific no-go zones which apply to them from day one of their employment.
The impact of buddy-punching
Buddy punching, time theft or time sheet fraud refers to situations where workers input pin codes or swipe cards to clock in or out on behalf of their colleagues; avoiding managers noticing late arrivals, early departures or general absences.
Buddy punching can be considered an unauthorised form of access. At the very least, it is a phenomenon which is far too easily abusable, particularly as employees could use keycards and fobs of colleagues with different security exemptions to access otherwise cut-off areas of the business for them.
Although buddy punching is generally considered to be a behaviour which is undertaken without malice, businesses need to be clear in communicating to their colleagues that it is an unacceptable practice with long reaching consequences that include unauthorised entry, and lost money from ghost shifts that were never worked.
The impact of security and data breaches
In larger organisations, it’s also commonplace to have manufacturing or distribution sites connected to main office blocks or areas of other disciplines such as design or R&D departments which may be of a more sensitive nature. To ensure adequate levels of security, it may be important to restrict access to employees to relevant areas.
Your time and attendance processes play a huge part in ensuring high levels of security throughout your organisation, largely through the use of biometric or key card access control points. Unfortunately, too many businesses are reliant on manual processes such as paper-based time sheets or guestbooks for tracking the flow of people in and out of the premises. Not only does this mean there is a lack of accuracy and integrity with the tracking of hours worked, these processes are also easily circumvented by those who wish to avoid scrutiny by security. These breaches open organisations up to serious incidences of theft of data breaches and even worse- can represent a serious safeguarding threat for your people.
Security breaches offer a safeguarding threat to your people but can also lead to compromises in NDAs or the leaking of sensitive information, the repercussions of which can impact the long-term health of organisations.
How Access Control solutions can help
It’s clear that unauthorised access and the breaches of security it causes poses a significant risk for organisations. Understanding the need for robust policy around access is all well and good but in order to enforce it, businesses will need to rely on modern and reliable systems and technology to support them.
Access Control points such as those accessed via keycard or fob or even more sophisticated biometric systems using fingerprint or facial recognition, provide the perfect foundation for a more robust security process.
By restricting access through these points, you build a more authentic picture of employee movement within your organisation. Most importantly, access can be fully customised, meaning that employees can be restricted to areas only relevant to their specific disciplines. This provides a significant degree of peace of mind, particularly when it comes to controlling the flow of personnel through sensitive areas.
Crucially, your access control points act as a hard barrier against unwanted access from members of the public, reducing the risk of breaches from unauthorised persons entering the premises. Your Access control systems can go a step further- allowing you to set up temporary access for visitors, giving you a comprehensive overview of access throughout your organisation.
How we can help
We understand what a crucial role effective access control can play in ensuring high levels of security across your organisation. You deserve to have the peace of mind that comes with understanding the movement of personnel throughout the business, as well as understanding that access is restricted to those authorised.
Advanced Access Control and time and attendance solutions offers out-of-the-box, enterprise-grade time and attendance clocking and total perimeter security, giving you complete control and visibility of who can access your sites, buildings and rooms.
We design and manufacture our own clocking terminals, biometric readers and access control units. They work exclusively with our own software to provide the deepest level of integration, security and performance.
Our access control solution is part of our fully integrated application platform. It means your employees’ identities and movements are ready to use alongside our Time and Attendance and Payroll solutions, delivering a true end-to-end, entry-to-pay workforce management solution.
Designing and manufacturing our own terminals and integrating custom hardware means we understand how to build and deploy sophisticated bespoke solutions. With over 40 years of engineering experience, we have ready-made solutions to help enhance your security.
To discover more about how we can help eliminate unauthorised access to your business and ensure the safeguarding of your people, get in touch today.
