Keep ‘em peeled
As a worker in the research industry, I have always been subjected to a level of security awareness, to varying levels, at varying times, and according to the environment in which I was working. Now as a manager, I am keen to ensure my staff have a safe working environment, as far as is reasonably practical.
When I began in my first job, I was not allowed to answer the phone until I’d received training in how to do so. I was taught not to give any information that the caller did not already know, and that it is easier to simply take the caller’s details, and promise that whoever they had asked for would call them back. A drawback for this method could be that I have just confirmed that the very person they are asking for was working at this establishment and so if this was a suspicious call, I had already given out some information. By the way, I was also told never to answer by giving my name or my extension number, as this may simply be supplying information through to someone who had asked the switchboard to put them through to my department.
Unbeknown to me at the time, the security processes had probably begun even before I started working for that employer. Now, I am aware of things such as probity checks, simply to confirm I am who I say I am, and that I live where I say I live. Since then I have also been subject to qualification checks, Criminal Records Bureau checks and financial checks. Then, as part of our modern electronic culture, Internet searches. Sometimes I wonder how much my employer knows about me?? Possibly more than myself, but of what quality was the information supplied? It is always important to ensure that whoever is collating this information does so from proper sources.
By carrying out these checks, before someone arrives on site for a visit or even a job interview, the employer can be more comfortable about showing a person around a site and also has the early chance to eliminate any high risk profile candidates. Anyone entering the site may have the opportunity to pick up someone else’s security pass, only to return later unchallenged and use it, or steal assets, such as paperwork, equipment and supplies or take photographic and video footage of the areas to which they are taken.
At least I can feel happy that the person standing next to me is not an infiltrator into my employers business, or that the head of finance will not be running away with the companies assets! But it is not whether they are tempted to do this, it is also whether they themselves could be liable to be manipulated or blackmailed into revealing these sorts of assets. Do your colleagues show strange, questionable behaviours? Do they always empty their locker each night? Perhaps they are preparing to leave a sticky situation very quickly, at short notice? Do they ask searching questions, that go beyond what may be normal curiosity? Do they take photos of things you would rather they didn’t, keep detailed notes where you would not normally expect it? Does their knowledge seem deficient on their quoted qualifications? Do they change in a separate cubicle, whereas everyone else gets changed in a open general changing area, and do they mix with other staff when they go out to break, or do they return to a quiet secret place to make their notes or report in to their ‘external handler’? All these behaviours may be simply and innocently explained, but if the alarm bells start ringing… you should immediately do something about them, even if you just pass the buck and ensure your supervisors are aware of your worries. All of these rules not only apply to colleagues, but also to visitors and contractors working at your facility, as they pose an equal, if not greater, risk to you and your workplace.
Additional protection may be provided by legal agreements with staff and visitors, such as confidentiality agreements. However, if you ever have to invoke these then the damage has already been done, and so it is better not to need them in the first place.
Finally, when a member of staff leaves , part of the exit interview should include a reminder that security of that person, and of the workplace, continues well beyond the last day of employment.
When I finally go home at night, I can rest assured that I have done everything in my power to ensure I have dispensed my obligations to provide my staff with a safe working environment. But I do not go home in a flash car with a private registration plate that would be far too easy for someone to track and follow. I have my Mr Average car, and a normal registration plate, and I never follow the same route home on consecutive days. I regularly vary the route and watch for anyone who may follow me. But I have been trained to do this since I was a child: As Shaw Taylor said… “Keep ‘em peeled’.
