Who's calling? Protect your business premises by knowing visitors

These days in managing our risks, we need to be so careful. We are becoming more and more aware of the Cyber risks coming via email and the internet, but do not forget about the physical security we all need for our business premises! Recently one of our colleague's Melbourne office, was the subject of a violent robbery back in July. The police asked if they had anyone unusual come to their building in the last week or so before the robbery. Their receptionist recalled that someone claiming to be from Google wanted to do a 360 walk through of their office. She and two other staff who went to her aid when he would not take the initial no as an answer. All of them explained to the man from Google that this was a security breach and they would not allow it. Since the robbery, they contacted Google to see if the person was legitimate and they were advised that Google does have people out doing this sort of thing but they cannot advise where they operate from, whether they have identification or the type of buildings that they visit. While we can see the advantage of this for museums and shopping centres, we do not see any advantage in having this information publicly available in private businesses other than it being a great tool for dishonest acts of all types, whether this be burglary, armed hold ups, terrorism, kidnap or arson. From a security point of view, I would not allow anyone to come through my building and I would strongly urge that Google provide some form of identification to these contractors to ensure that they are legitimate. If anyone else comes to their building now, they have instructed their staff to take a photocopy of their identification.

Some firms, have a sign in visitor register. If the person is unknown to you, ask for ID. Also the person they are visiting is recorded. Another is to use CCTV cameras to record those visiting premises 24/7. Just remember to keep the hard drive recordings and back ups for this off site or record to the cloud. These units can be stolen too. We all will have visitors occasionally not directly related to the business, but to check on air conditioning systems, plumbing and electricity all in the name of the landlord who may not give us advanced notice that they will be turning up. We have after-hours office cleaners, pest inspectors and health and safety inspectors. Then there is the IT consultant checking on the computer system that a staff member has rung urgently. Let alone, the insurance broker, insurance assessor or surveyor looking at the premises taking photos and writing down notes for insurance purposes. What are their purposes? If a man from Google turns up at your premises, do they really need to film inside your premises? It is one thing to do a walk through with a camera or video camera to record your premises for risk management and insurance purposes, but it is another to make it publicly available.   

Some firms, have a sign in visitor register. If the person is unknown to you, ask for ID. Also the person they are visiting is recorded. Another is to use CCTV cameras to record those visiting premises 24/7. Just remember to keep the hard drive recordings and back ups for this off site or record to the cloud. These units can be stolen too. We all will have visitors occasionally not directly related to the business, but to check on air conditioning systems, plumbing and electricity all in the name of the landlord who may not give us advanced notice that they will be turning up. We have after-hours office cleaners, pest inspectors and health and safety inspectors. Then there is the IT consultant checking on the computer system that a staff member has rung urgently. Let alone, the insurance broker, insurance assessor or surveyor looking at the premises taking photos and writing down notes for insurance purposes. What are their purposes? If a man from Google turns up at your premises, do they really need to film inside your premises? It is one thing to do a walk through with a camera or video camera to record your premises for risk management and insurance purposes, but it is another to make it publicly available.